I Know It When I See It

Do you know the feeling of meeting someone who is doing exactly what he/she was put in the world to do? I am at a loss for words on how to descibe this feeling; but I certainly know it when I see it. I think this is one of the great pleasures of life; to meet such a person and spend even a few moments to witness the sight of that person doing what he/she does best; to work with such focus and passion is a near perfect manifestation of humanity, in my opinion. It's rare, but I have met a dozen or so people in my journeys who I would put in this category; and this is a short story of such a meeting.

A week ago a photographer wrote me and asked if he could shoot some pictures of some baking action; he thought it would make some great shots for his growing portfolio and he was interested in the way I was baking; and he likes my bread. I said "sure" and Ryan Brandenberg visited the bakery last Thursday as I was finishing up my morning bake. He whipped out his camera withing 2 minutes of entering the bakery and snapped shots non stop for about an hour.

Ryan is a pro; he works full time at Temple as a photographer and he has his own freelance business (click here to see his webpage). As a signature line on all his emails it says "Can you imagine a world without pictures?"

What struck me is the way I felt when he was taking pictures. I usually feel tense, awkward, and pretty ambivalent when getting my picture taken. But with Ryan behind the lense, I feel at ease and even attracted to the fact I was getting my picture taken; I was even modeling my wares quite voluntarily, even aggressively at times.

Ryan said he wanted to come back again and get some more shots before his busy Fall season hits at the University. He emailed me a few shots he got last Thursday. All these photos were taken by Ryan while he was doing the work that he was destined to do in this world.