For absent friends....... / by Bill Frakes

Strolling slowly along the Seine today with my daughter Havana on a blustery, grey afternoon headed to a great little photo bookstore --La Chamber Claire, I chanced to see a postcard rack and in the center of it was the famous image of Che--by the great Cuban photographer Alberto Korda and right next to it an image by my favorite photographer Raul Corrales called La Sueno, which transported me to a very warm afternoon in Habana many years ago talking with the two of them. Wonderful friends, colleagues and fierce competitors. The tension created by the passion they had for life and photography--and frankly for women was palpable.

It was a very different time and place. They are gone now, but their images, their vision, will endure and not just inform, but educate.

This short journey today, led me to consider the longer path I've taken with the things I've gained from the work of other artists. As in all things for me the message-- the image, and the story were tantamount.

Such a great life, so many things I need to see.

The road beckons.