Have you ever said the snarky phrase “Take a picture, it’ll Last Longer!” when someone was staring at you?
That sounded like a clever takedown back in the day, but now it’s literally one of my everyday life goals. I love capturing moments with friends and just like an embarrassing dad, I’ll also go up to strangers and offer to take their photos for the same reason – I want to help them to preserve a memory. Does it hurt that I’m an excellent photographer and I’m damn good at what I do? It does not!
SPOILER ALERT: it’s all about lighting and angles.
Quite the Photo Collection!
Now that I have dozens of photos with friends holding my book, I am truly living my dream. I see and enjoy these captured memories almost every day, courtesy of my digital picture frame that’s adjacent to my laptop – almost 35K photos and growing each week.
Each picture is worth 1,000 words (at least!)
To the casual observer, a person with my book is just a smiling face holding a mini-Peter in their hand but to me, it’s the whole enchilada – they are supporting me, accepting me, proud of me, loving me, and we are sharing this moment forever.
I used to hide in photos
My initial photo collection (circa 2011) consisted of things that I love (sports, music, memes) but I was never in any of the pictures. When I was hiding my true self and looking at life as an outsider, there was no joy inside of me and accordingly, I probably wouldn’t have looked that great on the outside. Now that my heart is full and I project love, my smile and the memories I’m creating and capturing are a visual representation of a man living his best life.
Peter Leahy
A self-proclaimed “ideas guy,” I’ve worked in marketing for over twenty-five years. After years of sadness, emptiness and self-loathing, I finally came out of the closet in 2013 and reinvented myself. Now happily married to my husband for over two years, we live in California with our Chihuahua Felicia, the queen of our household.
