NORFOLK, Va. — Not what I usually do on this thing, but I hope you might be able to help, since most of the people who read this blog are in Hampton Roads.
I have a friend, photographer Stephen Katz, who is a wonderful shooter, a great person, and a proud new dad.
He and his family are also co-victims of a property crime that happened to somebody else. Here’s a note Katz posted to Facebook, gently edited:
Please. If you have a heart, please …
Monday night in Norfolk someone stole my friend Amanda Lucier’s camera and computer equipment from her home. I feel awful for her loss and the sense of violation, but thankfully the gear was insured and will be replaced and this was likely done by someone who knows her and has been a guest in her home.
What can’t be replaced are the photos she took of the birth of my son. With the exception of the six Amanda e-mailed me the next day, all of the photos are on her computer and/or harddrive. Images of my cutting the cord. Of my brother holding his first nephew. Pics of a proud grandma.
Chelsea and I are crushed. Other than the nurse and midwife, Amanda was the only other person we allowed in the room because we wanted to cherish those fleeting moments forever. We were looking forward to sharing them with our friends and family and one day Sawyer himself. And now someone is going to simply erase them and move on without a care.
Please. If you or someone you know did this […] please have a heart and make this right. Put the CF cards or a DVD of the pics or the harddrive in an unmarked envelope and send it to The Pilot – 150 W. Brambleton Ave, Norfolk, VA 23510.
Please.
It’s possible that someone who had been in Lucier’s home did this thing, but I can’t say for sure. On the off chance you’re in our area and know anything about who might have done this, I hope you’ll help.
Let me just add one thing here. If you’re not in the position to influence this individual in a 100 percent safe and peaceful way, please just contact the police.
If you shoot, as I do (very humbly), you know what gear costs. Bad enough, and my heart goes out to Lucier, a truly amazing shooter.
But, man – if you have kids, if you love somebody, if you remember that moment when everything changed in the best way ever, you know those images are worth the world and more to the people to whom they belong.
Long shot, I know. But thanks for reading it, at least. I’ll be back talking to some sort of writer about something or other in the near future.
John-Henry Doucette 