While in college many of us had the pleasure of being associated with Mark Ruppe, probably the most fun-loving and enjoyable person I have ever met. During my senior year in college I was taking a photo class and needed a subject.... who better than Mark Ruppe?

Now Mark was in his live off the land stage in life, and pretty much mooched everything he could get from food, to a place to stay. So me, in a moment of clarity, offered him lunch at the local residence hall cafeteria for his services as a photo model. After lunch we took to the streets of Lafayette and West Lafayette(Indiana)in search of a place to shoot. We walked around town meeting strangers, and stopping to take pictures with them. Mark had the gift of always being able to say hello and introduce/ask anyone, anything, so some pictures were with people we just met. We stopped by the Happy House (a house nicknamed that where some friends lived) and took some shots of Mark there. We also took pictures of some other habitants of the house.

We next went to Happy Hollow Park, down town , all over the area. The most memorable images for me however, came from inside the house waiting for Ruppe to get off the phone. Hard to imagine Ruppe getting side tracked! There, only a guy named Dan was still around so we talked as I waited. This scene resulted in my favorite picture of the day (see the dual picture of Dan and Mark at the bar).

I also have shots of mark, the nature boy, doing things with trees, it wasn't easy finding a decent pose so we winged it. That was a fun and memorable day for me, the kind you never forget.

The Music is an excerpt from a song he wrote in a band called Lint, "Four Bags"