six months later The first time I posted on Instagram, I left my husband and kids and drove 348 miles to Las Vegas to meet a group of strangers. That was January 2013. In the 10 years since, many of this group of “strangers” have become my closest friends, traveling companions, adventurers and, dare I say it, my chosen family. If it wasn’t for Instagram, we wouldn’t have known each other.
When the platform launched in 2010, I heard it wasn’t about personal news, gossip, and political opinions, but about sharing pictures, and I jumped on it to post my first photo. It’s the neon sign above Rae’s in West Los Angeles, where I grew up, in 1958. Determined I was the only one taking pictures of the old signs, I did a search: #vintageneonsigns. To my surprise, a bunch of photos popped up, like I had taken decades of photos. Other sign photographers were similarly surprised. “I don’t know of anyone else doing the same weird thing,” says Kathy Kikkert, a graphic designer in Los Angeles, and April Bryan, an administrator from Kalamazoo, Michigan, who points out, “I’m not alone after all!”
Our fascination with old logos has turned into an obsession with capturing them in photos. While our friends and family don’t understand our fascination with things that most people don’t even notice, or, if they do, consider an eyesore, we move on and everyone thinks we must be the only ones with it. People with quirky niche interests. Marc Stein, a software developer in Denver, admits, “Some friends and family know about my eccentricities…but for the most part, I don’t tell myself.”
I follow other sign shooters on Instagram, and the accounts they follow, they follow me. The next thing I knew, I was driving with some trepidation to Las Vegas to meet about 20 people from all over the US and Canada, between the ages of 25 and 60. Los Angeles-based author Steve Spiegel, whom I met on my first trip and who became a good friend I keep in touch with every day, shared my worries: “I still remember sitting in Burban Mike airport thought, ‘I’m about to spend a weekend in Las Vegas with a bunch of people I met on the app! This is crazy!'”
None of us knew that this trip would be the beginning of an inspiring, mutually supportive community of like-minded people who would eventually become friends forever. Since that trip, many of us have been in regular, even daily contact. We met for numerous local “find the signs” events, traveled all over the US (and once to Cuba), and had some group exhibitions. A rabble of 20 strangers in Las Vegas becomes an international community of over 220. In 2017, four members — Spiegel, Will Hansen, Mike and Marazak — named the group Signs United. The group is inclusive and open to any vintage neon lover.
Meeting new people and forming meaningful friendships isn’t easy when adults are torn between work and family. Many in our tribe describe feeling isolated, disconnected, alone, and with a sense of loss of purpose. Our meetups, group performances, educational events, and conservation efforts provide us with welcome breaks from real life, as well as rewarding creative outlets, meaningful connections, and a sense of belonging and purpose.
