Fifteen Minutes of Fame

Last summer B Troop was tasked to do a photo shoot for the upcoming Cochise Cowboy Poetry and Music Gathering. The theme was "Cowboys in Blue". The idea was to tell the story of how soldiers leaving the Army often became local ranchers. I immediately set out to find a suitable young trooper to represent the Army in this photo shoot. Well, it turned out to be two photo shoots so I selected two troopers to fill the bill. Unfortunately, one of them had to drop out at the last minute, so I had to fill in instead.

The photos were shot out at Brown Canyon ranch, not far from Fort Huachuca. I did one set of photos and trooper Shawn did the other. I personally thought that Shawn made for a better photo as he is younger and more cowboy looking. The photo sets included shots of us in uniform and in cowboy gear to show the transition from soldier to cowboy.

I'd pretty much forgotten about the photos, but recently advertisements for the Gathering started appearing everywhere. I was happy to see that Shawn's image was used in the advertisements, confirming my belief that he made a better cowboy model. I did appear in the web site for the event but otherwise not in any of the advertisements.



As the date of the Gathering grew closer, Shawn and I were invited to attend the opening night and bring our spouses. They wanted to introduce us as their "models" and asked us to come in uniform. As Debbie and I walked into the Buena Performing Arts center, we were handed a program which bore my sinister image on the cover (which you can see above). Well, I thought that was pretty bad but it gets worse. Somebody converted the photograph of me on the program cover into an oil painting which was proudly displayed in the lobby. I went and found it and was very uncomfortable as if looking at a painting of myself was somehow narcissistic. But wait, it gets even worser still. When I later skimmed through the program, I discovered that they had also converted the photo into a "custom-crafted collectible commemorative Cloisonne pin, belt buckle, scarf slide, and bola set." Can you imagine?

I always wondered how celebrities felt when they saw their image marketed on items of merchandise or on billboards. I think I must not be cut out to be a celebrity, because I'm feeling a little embarrassed by this. At least my image hasn't appeared on underwear yet.