Merger Paparazzi

Hello + Welcome, Kellogg School of Management Class of 2006

You have seen them most of them already... These are the photos from our two year Kellogg MBA Journey (2004 - 2006) that I had originally stored in and shared through kodakgallery.com. That website closed, so I had to find a way for you to have access to all of them, since, although I took them, they are not my photos, but yours. Especially now, after ¡twenty two! years of our having started this journey together...

I thank you for having allowed me to capture you for posterity. Please bear in mind that, at the time I took them, I had zero technical knowledge of photography, and this is the reason why some (all?) of the photos could be better... It took me a while, but here they are.

One more thing... let me tell you why I am so grateful for your letting me take your photographs (and even, at times, annoy you): As many of you know, when we started our MBA, it had been just one year and almost nine months since I had woken up from a two-month long coma. After waking up, I had to relearn to swallow, speak, stand (my equilibrium was - is - fragile), walk... I used diapers for months while learning to regain control of my sphincter. My working memory was collapsed - still compromised while I was at Kellogg. I had to recover my proprioception (hint: we have more than five senses). I had to breathe through a hole in my throat (tracheostomy), eat through a hole in my abdomen (gastrostomy). I also had to deal with a psychiatric condition called dysthimia (recently renamed as Persistently Depressive Dirorder, or PDD), handle spasticity (muscle rigidity)...

In our MBA events, I could not speak clearly enough (dysarthria) or with the volume needed to be understood. If it was too packed -as it usually was -, rigidity (spasticity) grew in my muscles (by my fear of falling down). In synthesis: I could not speak, be heard or move around. Photography gave me a purpose to be there, with you, at every event. It also allowed me to move at my own pace and to interact with all of you without having to say a word, to be there and leave as I pleased... For me, the fact that you allowed me to be your paparazzi is what made my MBA challenge not only bearable, but joyful. Very much so...

There are two sets of videos that I could not upload to this webpage: one is the Highlanders' Farewell Video and the other are 3 videos or our Commencement Ceremony. Instead of uploading them here - I could only upload one -, you will be able to download them at these url addresses: 

 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Ew40T7ypCJXvt_cH1zk9-sHHOy1CTgJm/view?usp=sharing  

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1_iiWEfjKOIUR1qlUgR6vUi5HBi8u2Id6/view?usp=sharing

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1f1krJsC1nksHz5z7DZH22_QBRQX7qV5f/view?usp=sharing  

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1hS9xyTc-srjVREoAax-d5aJphWlTmmql/view?usp=sharing

 

For all of this, I will be forever grateful. Yours always,

Rodrigo

 

P.S.1. There are not many photos from commencement, and very few from our alumni reunions. If you have some in your records, we would appreciate it if you sent them to me by an appropriate channel (my e-mail address is [email protected]), so I upload them to our Zenfolio account and, ultimately, to our Mergerpaparazzi web page.

P.S.2. There might be some duplicated photos... sorry. Tried hard to eliminate as many duplicates as I could.

P.S.3 I will not be able to join you for our 2026 Alumni Reunion. Please share the photos you take, so I upload them all here.

IMPORTANT NOTE1: If you would like me to delete any photo from the web page, for any reason, just tell me and I will do it. My e-mail is [email protected].

IMPORTANT NOTE 2: I configured the webpage to allow for full resolution download of all photos (there is no need nor a way to buy them). If for any reason I failed to do this correctly and the webpage hinders your downloading of any photo, please tell me and I will correct it ASAP.