Rainbow Couple
Rainbow Couple
Rainbow Couple, Lytham
Last Tuesday evening I made a last minute call to go out to do some photography on Lytham front. When I arrived and parked up a rainbow was appearing. I took some shots of the rainbow over the iconic Lytham Windmill and then as I carried on I noticed people walking along the front. I also captured this couple under the rainbow. Not thinking much of it at the time and continuing taking other photos, it was only when I got home that I realised it was quite a special and unique image.
When I returned home and started going through the images on my computer, this particular image stood out to me and got me thinking how nice it would be to find the couple with it being such a unique image. I decided to post the image on a local Facebook page, simply saying “Took this photo Tuesday evening on Lytham front, if anyone recognises the couple please let me know”
I didn’t think there would be much hope with the image being at distance and of only their backs.
To my surprise the post started gaining traction with lots of likes and comments. Eventually a couple named Val & Len said it was them in the picture. They live on Lytham front, had seen the rainbow forming and decided to go out for a walk. They even posted the image they had taken of the rainbow from their viewpoint. On seeing their comment I said I would love to be able to get a print over to them. An email followed and we arranged to meet. I got the image printed and framed and went over to visit them. A lovely couple, we chatted for a while and at the end I asked if they minded if I took a photo of them together holding the print – for the reason that so many people had been asking if the couple had been found – I thought it would bring the story full circle and answer all the questions. When I got home I posted the image in the comments section to confirm they had been found.
From that point on the whole story seem to go viral – I had people contacting from America, Australia, and Europe saying the story had come up in their suggested feed, Facebook had picked up on it. There was an outpouring of nice comments, so many I couldn’t keep up!
The effect it seemed to have on a lot of people was incredible, people said they had genuinely been crying, that it was so good to see something positive online for a change. Someone contacted me that they had seen the story and wrote as poem about it. An illustrator had created an artwork based on it. A woman contacted me, a meteorologist from South Carolina asking if she could share the story on her weather page!
What stood out for me was an overriding feeling that people were generally happy and pleased to see a “good news” story.There were so many kind comments, that seeing the story had made their day or renewed their faith in people and the internet’s power to do good.
For 48 hours my Facebook went into meltdown. It was an unusual and somewhat overwhelming experience. But all madness aside, I was just very happy that Val and Len had been found, that I had the chance to meet them and give them the print and memory of the day. It also turns out it was their wedding anniversary that week!
JohnThrelfall
