I’m going to let you all in on a secret that we rarely tell. Our love of photography, this business and our whole photo-centric lifestyle all developed, along with countless black and whites, in the darkroom at Clinton Community College. We started at Clinton completely directionless. We both loved art and we loved each other and nothing else mattered at the time. We had no clue what our future would hold, but we knew two things, we wanted be together every minute of every day and we wanted to be able to submerse ourselves in art. We enrolled blindly. I chose as many art, film, English and psychology classes as I could. Jason, on the other hand, was instantly drawn to photography. After the first class he announced to me that he was in love. By the second or third class his teacher, Laura, expressed that he had a lot of natural talent. She pushed him to do better. I pushed him to do better. We spent more hours than I thought possible in that darkroom, printing, re-printing, making sure that each print was bright enough and that the contrast was just right. When we weren’t in the darkroom, we were out shooting. I also fell in love and Jason started teaching me. Soon he had taken all the photo classes that Clinton had to offer and Laura started him on new projects through independent study. After Clinton, we enrolled in the Arts program at Concordia. We got accepted. We gathered up all of our necessary tuition money and, at the very last minute, we used it to buy equipment instead. We’ve never looked back!
Why am I telling you all of this now? Because Sonal and Paul’s wedding was at Clinton last Friday and the musty smell of the hallways and the books in the library and the look of the marble staircase and feel of the balcony railing all brought back so many memories for us. The last thing we ever thought when we were students was that one day we would be supporting ourselves as artists and photographing a beautiful wedding on the very property that started everything.
I am also telling you this because sometimes we have a teacher, like Laura, that just inspires us to be better. I bet that is exactly the kind of teacher Sonal is. I get that feeling simply by being around her. She is so calm and cool. She’s put together like no one I’ve ever met before. Totally, undeniably type A to the highest degree, yet so incredibly kind and caring. A wonderful teacher, I’m sure, and an even more wonderful new wife and best friend for Paul. And Paul? He’s definitely not a bad catch, either. Handsome, funny, loving. Not bad at all! Right, Sonal?
These two are amazing. Energetic. Joyful. And that energy and joy spreads to everyone around them. Just try to make it though their slide-show without smiling. I dare you.
A big congratulations to Sonal and Paul! May the future bring you much love and happiness!
by Vanessa
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