“The subject matter is so much more important than the photographer.” ~ Gordon Parks
A very long time ago I was a photography student at Western Kentucky University. I met a teacher named Dave Labelle. This teacher taught me of compassion and composition. He taught me to tell stories about people. He challenged every notion I held about anything at all. He taught me to show in pictures what I heard in my heart. He endlessly irritated me with ruthlessly kind and honest critiques. He believed in me when I did not. He taught me of passion and gentleness, to honor love in all the faces of humanity. An image was nothing, no matter how tasty and flashy, until it touched this place of universal remembering, this place called heart.
I graduated. He moved. We lost touch. Fast forward…2o years later to a hotel lobby in Nashville. We met again.
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This is my favorite image and story.. it touched my heart and I think the picture says it all…
Hello cousin Amy!…what a wonderful moment in time….teacher and pupil reunited…….as a teacher I can tell you that this moment in time is in this man’s storehouse of lifetime loves!
I am enjoying this site immensely and am living the photography life vicariously thru you and your friends’ talented abilities! Love from Texas and can’t wait to see your doc. on the oil spill! Love and hugs….Kathy
i heard you talk about your mentor on silberstudiostv. and i knew it had to be Dave be the way you talked about him. ive never met him, just saw a few videos about him, what a incredible guy. i see so much of him in your work, so much compassion and feeling. i just want to thank you for your inspiring work.
Hi Carrie,
So great to hear from a fellow WKU buddy. It was an astounding day to see Dave again. Thanks for stopping by. love ~ Amy
Hi Mark,
Twenty years…feels like a blip. And I feel I’m just getting going in this whole photography thing. love ~ Amy
I looked at the photo before I read the back-story and as I read it I could really see the personality captured in the image. What a cool moment.
Dave is one of my heroes! He’s such a kind hearted person and a great teacher. He teaches such great messages of being a good human as much as a good photographer!
Go Hilltoppers!