Obama and Nigel

In the Presence of Greatness… that was the topic on one of my morning radio shows (I’m a channel surfer). Today I felt like I was in the presence of greatness twice. First and foremost, Barack Obama was in Grand Rapids today. Regardless of your political views, seeing either one of the presidential candidates in person is an amazing experience. I felt very fortunate that I was able to sneak out of the office today to catch a sneak peek, and listen to his message of hope and change.

We were really far away. The plaza was packed!
I can’t believe I forgot my zoom lens at home! Ugh, stupid. ::smacks forehead::

Here are a couple very bad crops – but still fun to see :)

Yikes!

Danielle, holding her front-row spot to watch him get in his bus :) We did see him!

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THEN, as if that wasn’t enough to make my day, I had the unique opportunity to meet an amazing fashion photographer, Nigel Barker. He was speaking at the Grand Rapids Art Museum, a lecture about Richard Avedon, a very influential fashion photographer and one of my personal favorite artists. It was fun to hear him speak, he was very passionate about it, honored to be speaking about him. Looking through Nigel’s work, it is obvious that Avedon was influential to him personally. The lecture was part of the Member’s Preview Party for the extraordinary exhibition, Richard Avedon: Larger than Life. If you’re in the area, I highly recommend heading over to the GRAM to see the gallery. It truly is amazing to see.