The Day I met my Name Twin

Singer/Songwriter Kris Orlowski Lower East Side, Manhattan, New York City in March 2012.

Here is an interesting tale for you:

Halfway through 2010 I found myself in a similar spot to where I am today: needing to curate my work and put out my portfolio and publish a website to show my work to the world and attract new clients. So, I did what anyone would naturally do: register my name for a new dot-com.

Enter “krisorlowski.com”

— DOMAIN TAKEN —

I stared at the screen in disbelief.

“What?!?”

then

”Who…?”

Off to the internets to research. Turns out there is, in-fact, another “Kris Orlowski” out there in the world. I found him on Facebook.

So, I did what one naturally does: I sent him a Friend Request and then, a direct message. Pretty sure I started the conversation with “Hey there! We’re name-twins.”

I learn he’s a songwriter from Seattle and that we’re the same age and only weeks apart. Weird.

In the meanwhile, I decide that I’m now going to use my first name and middle name for work, and, thus, “Kris Rae” is born. More on that another time.

About a year later, I see he’s planning a small venue/club tour around the US and coming to New York City. At the time I lived in Middletown CT and only about 90 minutes away, so I sent him a message and we make some arrangements to meet up before his gig.

In the early afternoon of March 4th, 2010, I take the Metro North from New Haven to Grand Central Terminal in Manhattan. Then, catching a taxi at 42nd and Park, I head to the Lower East Side and hop out at Delancy and East Houston. I got myself some grub and waited. Messages from Kris indicated he was on his way: somewhere close to the Lincoln Tunnel in New Jersey.

When Kris arrived, I quickly learned we had only a few minutes for photos as he was also meeting his then-girlfriend’s father for the first time that night. The sun had just set and blue hour had just set in, so I quickly worked the small mall that runs through the center of Allen Street, with the real triumph of coming across the “80s” mural seen in the lead shot on the page. After that, I followed Kris to the Rockwood Music Hall, and the night quickly became like so many others in life of a camera-slinger: quietly observing and capturing what you can but being contentious to not intrude. At some point, I quietly slipped away and went to an old friend’s apartment in Brooklyn to catch some Zzz’s before catching the early train back to New Haven before sunrise.

Now, 10 years later, I reflect and am grateful that I, if only for a short while, got to study the face of a strange ‘twin’ of my own self. While he is Kristopher P. Orlowski, singer/songwriter, and I am Kris Rae Orlowski, photographer, we are both “Kris Orlowski, 40-year-old father” and it’s nice to know that there is someone out there who just might know what it’s like to walk a few strides in your shoes.

Thanks for reading.

Kindly,
Kris