Recession Losses

[pegkerr]

You may have wondered why I haven't posted Fiona's sixteenth birthday pictures yet. We got truly heartbreaking news a couple weeks ago: the studio that has taken our family's pictures for the past ten years, including all the girls portraits and the family Christmas pictures, has closed, due to the recession, I assume. This was Ritz/Proex Photography. They still had a few studios left in town, so I called around to see if the photographer we've used all these years, Gary, had simply moved to another location. We had always specifically requested him whenever we booked a sitting. He had quite a bit of seniority, so I was hoping. He called me back that night, and told me that he didn't know his status yet, but yes, he may move to one of the other stores. I told him that if he left and went with another company, we'd follow him, so to please keep in touch, because we want him to continue doing our family's pictures. I'm hoping we won't have to wait too long to know.

There have been others: a couple favorite restaurants and stores. But the possibility of losing Gary is a blow to the heart.

What have you lost from the recession: stores you've patronized, or favorite service people you don't see any more because they lost their job?

Here's one my favorite pictures that Gary took, one of Fiona's fourteenth birthday portraits. He really has just a wonderful knack at bringing out the beauty in the girls:



(And actually, I think that was my decrease worldsuck contribution for Tuesday.)

Comments

[a-c-fiorucci.livejournal.com]

de-lurking to say bless you for going through the effort to track Gary down. I imagine it must have been a bright spot to know he's made a difference and that people care about his work.

(goes back to lurking now.)

[pegkerr.livejournal.com]

He was really touched. But he does truly deserve our loyalty.

[cakmpls.livejournal.com]

Oh, no! Gary has taken some of our best pictures, too! Let us know if you hear where he lands, please.

[bohemianspirit.livejournal.com]

I got my hair colored--totally unnecessary, though it turned out very well--a week after my last haircut, because I knew my stylist could use the business. She works for a chain salon, now, but I first found her at a local independent one. She does fantastic work, is a single mom of a small child, and is always a pleasure to work with, so I'm motivated to do my small bit to mitigate the effects of the recession on her income. ;-)

As for losses from the recession, well, Peg, I now count myself blessed that I was forced to downscale 6-1/2 years ago, because it put me in a much better position to weather the storms now, and I have become very, very grateful to have the "Stopgap Crap Job" at the grocery store. (It also helps, of course, that they finally promoted me to CSM last October. ;-)) Funny how the things we once bitched about can turn out to be good fortune in disguise.

[tassie-gal.livejournal.com]

I havent noticed much here in Hobart, but I suspect some of my fav cafes have a few less regulars. I am DEFINATELY noticing it in the part time jobs section of the newspaper.

[merimask.livejournal.com]

The picture of Fiona is lovely...Gary is obviously very talented. I hope he lands safely on his feet in these hard economic times. It's good of you to make an effort to find him & let him know how much you appreciate him.

[dd-b.livejournal.com]

Sounds like there's still a decent chance you'll be able to continue to work with Gary, then. At least, you and Carol both speak highly enough of him that he *ought* to be able to land on his feet somewhere.

I haven't yet lost any regular or valued commercial contacts to the recession. I used Proex regularly for snapshot stuff for a long time, but haven't shot much of any film in 4 or 5 years, and they were eaten by Wolf / Ritz well before this round of economic excitement. I always hated Circuit City, so I'm glad they went (to let their competitors I like better, yes even Best Buy, have a chance).

[bluewaterlilies.livejournal.com]

Does Gary do any freelance work? If he doesn't have his own studio, he could maybe arrange for an outdoor or on-location shoot. That's what I'd do if I were a studio photographer with folks wanting portrait sittings from me.

[hobbitbabe.livejournal.com]

Yeah, that's what I was thinking.

The hairdresser I followed from salon to salon ended up much happier as her own boss cutting hair in her own basement.

[aome.livejournal.com]

I don't know if it's from the recession or not, but there used to be a custom-sofa maker nearby (pick the shape, the fabric, the firmness of cushion, they'll put it together for you); our sofa came from there (we bought it secondhand from friends after the firmness turned out to be bad for said friend's back) and I had thoughts of calling them to see if they could re-spring it. And then saw last week that they had closed. But, like I said, I don't know if it's from recession or not.

I have some worries that our adoption agency may close, the cost of adoption paired with more stringent international rules and longer wait times has made business very slow for them lately.

[eal.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I hold my breath over several services that we love and hold dear. Our single person pediatrics practice and our vet, for two. I worry because neither place is particularly busy and the kids love Dr. D and the dogs love Dr. K.

If he owns his own equipment, maybe you could convince him to do location work for you? Maybe?