08/03/2026
Sitting here this morning reflecting on my photography journey while finishing up a wedding album, I realized something…
The one thing that truly solidified my photography journey was realizing that the last known photo of my uncle was taken by me.
I can still remember that day like it was yesterday, even though it's been 18 years.
We were at our family home on a perfect Michigan summer day. The kind where everyone's outside, the music is playing, people are drinking cold beers, and for a little while, nothing feels wrong in the world.
My mom had a digital camera, and at the ripe age of 8, I was absolutely obsessed with it. I walked around snapping photos of everyone and everything.
My Uncle Sam was standing on the deck, smoking a cigarette. I can still picture it so clearly.
"Uncle Sam, look!"
Snap. Snap. Snap.
It was nighttime. The flash went off, and his piercing blue eyes shined through the photo.
That was it.
That became the last known photograph of my uncle.
My hero. The man who hung the moon and the stars. The one who would've done just about anything for me.
And I was the one who captured it.
Just a couple of weeks later, I learned the true value of a photograph. In an instant, a simple picture became something priceless.
From that moment on, I cherished photographs differently.
You could almost always find a camera in my hands.
MessyJ Photography exists because I know moments don't last forever and neither do the people in them.
But photographs do.
My goal is to preserve the little moments, the big milestones, and everything in between, so years from now you'll have something tangible to hold onto when the memories begin to fade. 🤍
