Marc and I have had a prolific email exchange in creating this image. He was one of the first people to be interested in creating an ILYB image but time and geography conspired against us. This ended up being the only image that I created without the person being present. Because I know Marc fairly well and we’ve been talking about the project for months I felt comfortable creating it without him but it was sad not to have his presence to bounce ideas off of in the moment.

Finding a traditional phone booth in today’s cell phone world was tough. I searched Flickr for “phonebooth” and “sanfrancisco” and found a good phone booth. I then emailed the fellow that took the photo and found out where it was. Then I used Google Street View to verify that it was still standing. There was something fun in using all this technology to make a superhero image about love.

His image has to do with how his wife, Chloe, consistently inspires him to push through whatever obstacle he has in the way of his success as a painter, and as a person. But the superhero motif has a lot to do with Marc himself, who loves the fantasy world of comic books (in an endearing moment he shared that she’s the Wonder Woman to his Superman). He told me how, with her support, he’s learned how to create a vision of what he wants his life to look like and how to actively go after it. I can certainly testify that Marc has taken this to heart as he consistently goes after, and reaches, higher and higher personal and professional goals. I am happy that he has a partner who pushes him to these heights. An interesting ripple effect ensues: Chloe inspires Marc, and Marc, in turn, inspires me.

Click here to see a portrait of Marc.