“The Man in the Green Jacket”
On Sunday December 3, 2023 I bundled up with my wife and kids and headed to the annual Westerville Children’s Christmas Parade in Westerville, OH. This had become somewhat of a tradition in our house, since our middle daughter had been dancing. Every year we intend to leave early but that rarely happens. We then spend almost thirty minutes trying to find a parking spot. In the past, I have even joked that I should have entered the 5k part of the parade, because by the time I get to the main drag I have logged the distance. This year however, was different. As we approached the side streets and got closer to the parade, I glanced at a parking lot that is always full. It’s even full when there is no parade! Not today. There was one extra large empty spot made to fit my oversized truck. I smiled all the way into the spot, feeling as if I had won the lottery.
As we made a short walk to the main drag, we seeked out shelter as cold bursts of wind made its way down the street. As we stood nestled together, a bench opened up right in front of us! Again, I was feeling like today was my lucky day.
For the next thirty minutes, we sat hunkered over watching the many parade participants make their way down the street. Although I was equipped with my Fujifilm x100v camera, I only had raised it a handful of times to capture the occasional dog dressed like a reindeer in the 5k. It was cold, and quite honestly I was ready for my daughter’s dance team to get down to us. But before I knew it, the action started. First it was the fire trucks. Even as a man in his forties, I am a sucker for a shiny red fire truck. This day was no different. That had gotten my camera out. As I rattled off shots, I noticed an accompanying flag corps of servicemen making their way down the street. As I stood quietly, a man appeared and walked up to the curb. The man caught my attention because he reminded me of my own Father. He stood in the cold wearing a retro styled bright green shiny jacket, and a cap to keep his head warm. I immediately smiled and appreciated his presence. With my camera hung around my neck, I too at attention for the approaching stars and stripes. At that time, taking a photo was not even on my mind, as my concentration was directed at the servicemen walking. It was then that “the man in the green jacket” lifted his right arm to salute that same American flag. Aware of what was happening, I quickly raised my camera and snapped off two shots roughly 20 seconds apart. I remember looking up to the sky and smiling, as I had once again won the lottery.
2023 had been a rough year for us. In March, my wife suffered a brain bleed while working out. After spending ten days in the ICU and not knowing the fate of the love of my life, it may be years before we fully recover from that time in our lives. The fact that I had lost my job just a few short months before, we were beginning to feel like we had been cursed. And to top it all off, we lost my wife’s father in July. Yeah, 2023 could not go fast enough for the Childress family.
I tell you these details not because I want attention or a hug the next time you see me. I share this because what has happened to me in the past two weeks was far from how things had been going. Although I constantly worked to remain positive and not focus on the bad, it had been difficult at times. I was going through a rough patch. The cold grey Ohio weather was lingering and I was just feeling down. So, for the day to be progressing the way it had was refreshing to say the least.
From that point forward, I was in the best of moods. I enjoyed every second of my daughter’s dance routine and all of the energy that had come with it. It was turning out to be a pretty good day.
It wasn’t until I got home that I realized what I truly had. As a photographer, I often rip off hundreds of photos only to catch a glimpse of the small 3” touchscreen. I felt the composition had been there and knew the subject was on point, but it’s not uncommon for the final product to lack. With the kids in bed, I pulled out my Macbook and popped in the memory card with the images. The grey overcast skies had made most of the photos turn out to my liking. I am kind of known for a darker grungy style. I yearn for a vintage vibe that can sometimes make or break an image for me. Once I got to THE image and applied my crops and editing, I knew then that I had something special. Please know I do not mean this in a braggadocious way at all. I just mean that it was special TO ME. You have to understand, I was a photographer living a secret because I guess I was afraid of what others might think or if they didn’t like it? I don’t honestly know what my hang up is there. (That’s a whole other blog post right there!). But my overall litmus test was whether or not I “felt” the image and had conveyed a story of sorts. This photo had done just that. Very rarely do I take an image that I am fully confident that it will be loved by others, and this one was no different. Like I said, it was special TO ME, but had no idea what others might think.
Since May, I had been trying to post a photograph to Instagram every other day in an effort to grow my audience. Like everyone else, you get sucked in to that social media validation feedback loop where we determine our worth based on likes and that occasional comment. With this edit being fresh on my mind and what I considered “Special”, I decided to just let it rip and post it up. By this time, I was accustomed to 400 - 500 likes per post of what I considered sympathy from other photographers for my tenacity and unending posting. This photo was no different initially. I do however have a theory on this. Instagram, in my opinion, is a mindless death scroll of image after image, or now reel after reel. The days of photographers truly being appreciated for something that they had captured were gone. Unless you could post a video of you taking said picture upside down, on a bicycle, with little clothing on, good luck getting much attention from the algorithm. Because of this, many photographers consider Instagram to be DEAD. But as a self taught photographer fueled by passion and starbucks, Instagram is all I’ve got. Please don’t judge.
It wasn’t until the following Friday rolled around that I got the idea to write up an anonymous post in “Westerville Families in the Know”, a private facebook group. In that post I included the photograph asking if anyone knew “the man in the green jacket” appearing in the image. I closed my computer and took my kids to the local basketball game that night. It wasn’t until I got out and to my car that I noticed all of the notifications from that post. Along with 1300 likes, people were pleading for me to post it to my personal page so it could be shared to aid in my search. That made total sense, but only a small handful of friends and family knew that I was a photographer and the thought of everyone finding out was terrifying. So, I quickly whipped up a business Facebook page entitled RJ Childress Photography to match my Instagram. I posted that image along with the same message. I then reported back to the private group that it was ready to be shared. That single post changed my life forever.
I had fallen on the “good side” of social media for once, and my post took off like a storm. Within 24 hours, my post had been shared over 10,000 times and viewed 500,000 times! (Those numbers have since tripled at the time of writing this). It didn’t take long for the messages to start pouring in. “Bro, you’re a photographer?” or “Is this you that posted this?” Now 1.5 million people know I’m a photographer. That cat is long out of the bag.
The post had become a movement that people could get behind. The story that none of us knew we needed. A search for a cute little man saluting his flag, so he could be presented a gift of gratitude for his simple gesture. A fairytale of sorts. The problem was, he was nowhere to be found. After three days I was beginning to think that he had been in town from Florida or something and we would never find him. When the news networks starting contacting me, I figured I would do one interview and perhaps that would get the message to him. Finally after four long days and hundreds of leads later, someone told me without a doubt that the man in the green jacket was family, and then his wife messaged me to confirm it. I was elated to have finally solved the mystery!
Once I got the word out about him being identified, things slowed down a little and I was able to read through the comments at night. It wasn’t until then that I realized the magnitude of how many people had actually seen my photograph. The messages and loving comments left me in tears that first night. To have more than one person tell me that my photo was “hands down the best photo that they had ever seen” honestly left me more confused than anything at first. I honestly wondered if they had been a part of one of those amazing tik toks where someone had been unable to see until they had some magical surgical procedure done, and poof! And there was my photo! In all seriousness, as terrifyingly overwhelming as it all was, it was my dream come true.
After a few days of letting it all sink in, Don and his wife Susan reached out and said they would be comfortable meeting now. So, we set up a time and place for me to present him with his photograph.
We met at a local coffee shop and greeted each other. After getting a couple of drinks ordered up, we sat down together at a small table in the corner. We all looked at each other and began to laugh. We were bonded from that day forward. Together we had gone through the craziest week of social media that any of us had ever witnessed, and we were in the middle of it all.
Like the ending to a Hallmark movie, this ending was like it had been written. I mean, I’ve never seen a Hallmark movie, but my wife has told me about them. Don was exactly what we had all hoped for. A shy, humble man, that seemed to get a kick out of everything that had happened. He simply sat smiling and chuckling as we talked through the series of events. I had to ask about the retro styled green jacket, that had now become an icon. He told me he had picked it up at an auction and that coat was for “windy days”. Since the day of the parade was windy, it was an obvious choice for him. It was then that he told me perhaps the most endearing thing of all; He had been at the parade by himself and it’s just what he does every year.
After sharing some laughs, it was time to present him with the photograph. This is what this was all about. I had gotten an 8x10” print matted and framed. In my opinion, it was the perfect size. I pulled the frame out of the box and handed it to him. He looked at the photo and well, we will just say it was quite an emotional moment for us all.
After a warm hug from Susan and a handshake from Don, they were on their way. We will always have a connection and we all agreed that we will NEVER forget the Christmas of 2023.
So much of this story has been as if a higher power had been making things happen on my behalf. Someone once told me “If the universe gives you something, you take it". For me this has been a journey of overcoming self doubt and believing that maybe there are people out there that want to see my photographs. To truly make a dream come true, it’s up to me to share everything that I have created. So, here we are! Welcome to RJChildressPhotography.com. I hope you enjoy.