A group of five friends who originally hail from Santa Barbara, California, started a unique photo tradition 40 years ago where they re-create a picture taken in 1982 every five years.
“The dedication needed to take these photos every five years is a testament to our friendship,” one of the friends, John Wardlaw, 59, told The Epoch Times. “It is a reminder of how important friendship can be.”
The group of five friends, who graduated from the same high school, includes John Wardlaw, 59, Mark Rumer-Cleary, 58, Dallas Burney, 59, John Molony, 59, and John Dickson, 59.
Despite all five currently living in different cities, they haven’t drifted apart, crediting the success of their friendship to their photo tradition.
According to Wardlaw, a semiretired filmmaker and photographer living in Bend, Oregon, some of their friendships blossomed way before high school. Dickson, who’s nicknamed “JD,” first met Burney in the first grade. They both later attended separate schools before they reunited again at Santa Barbara High School (SBHS).
Wardlaw, who’s nicknamed “Wedge,” met Burney and Molony in the seventh grade, but they didn’t become friends until they attended high school at SBHS.
Wardlaw said that the most “significant meeting” was the one with Dickson. On July 26, 1977, Wardlaw’s house got burned down in the Sycamore Fire along with over 200 homes in the area.
“My family needed a place to live,” Wardlaw said. “We ended up renting a house from the Dickson family.”
In their first meeting, Wardlaw and Diskson realized they shared a mutual love for making movies, and they both owned Super 8 movie cameras. They would later spend time together over the weekends writing and shooting their own films.
Meanwhile, Rumer-Cleary was introduced to the group by Dickson, who met him while making a student film with some other friends.
The five of them, along with other good friends, made science-fiction space movies, “James Bond” spoofs, and short comedies.
In 1981, they all graduated from SBHS. The following year, they shot one of their first “James Bond” spoofs at their cabin during a trip to Copco Lake in northern California.
At the same time, Dickson, who was the only one with a real 35 mm camera, took the first photo that later inspired a tradition.
“Five years later, I realized that all the guys were going to be able to make a trip back to the cabin,” Wardlaw said. “I told them I really wanted to duplicate the photo.”
“They all thought the idea was cool,” Wardlaw added, and Rumer-Cleary even made a video of them capturing the first reproduction in 1987.
However, it wasn’t until five years later, when they again had the opportunity to re-create the same image, that they realized they had something very “special.”
“I think it was that year, or in 1997, when we made an actual vow to take it every five years, no matter what,” Wardlaw said.
While their photo tradition continued, so too did their love for making movies together.
“Of course, we spent a lot of time hanging out, going to the beach, and going out for pizza,” Wardlaw said. “But it was the filmmaking that really pulled us all together as a group.”
In 2000, Wardlaw purchased the domain Copcolake.com and built a small website, posting pictures from the many years the group vacationed together at the lake. However, it wasn’t until 2007, when the Santa Barbara News-Press did a story about their photo tradition, that Wardlaw decided to dedicate a page on the website to the five-year photos.
“We knew our story was unique and we even started fiveyearphotos.com around that time as well,” Wardlaw shared.
In 2012, their story went viral and their Facebook page garnered thousands of followers, many of whom shared how the friendship story made them feel, with some of them even mentioning that they’d start their own photo traditions.
“The reaction has been nothing but positive,” Wardlaw said. “It makes us appreciate our friendship even more.”
Meanwhile, their families think that it’s wonderful that they have shared their “story of an enduring friendship with the world.”
Their most memorable moment of sharing their story with the world was when they were all flown to New York City to appear live on the “Today” show.
Re-creating the same picture every five years with the same people in the same location didn’t come without challenges.
During one of the years, the day had been set to shoot the picture, but Rumer-Cleary, who lives in Portland, Oregon, faced flight delays from Santa Barbara and he wasn’t going to make it until the next day.
“So he got in the car and drove all night (it takes 12 hours) just so he could arrive in time to shoot the photo,” Wardlaw said. “Sadly, with the long drive required to get home, he was unable to stay more than a day and then had to drive the 12 hours home. But it shows you the dedication we all have to be there to take the photo.”
Apart from the original series, the group also has another series, called “The other five-year photo,” but they haven’t been able to capture it every five years.
Having been able to maintain a friendship for that long, Wardlaw shared some advice about the importance of not losing contact with the most important people in your life.
“Whether it is family, friends, or even a teacher who meant something to you growing up,” he said. “Stay in touch, reach out, and don’t let that connection fade.”
He suggested being the person who initiates conversations with those you haven’t spoken to in years.
“You don’t have to meet up in person,” he said. “Send an email, make a phone call.”
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