Several years ago, I had dinner in Houston with my friend and fellow photographer, Greg Gorman. As is any dinner with Greg, the food was fantastic, the wine supreme and the guests fascinating. In particular that night, I met a young man named Reggie Bibbs. Reggie suffers from a debilitating disease called neurofibromatosis.
NF, as it is known, is a disease in which the nerve tissues grow tumors beneath skin and throughout the body and that affects every 1 in 3000 people. Some cases are more extreme than others. Reggie’s case is severe. While he is one of the most gregarious people I’ve ever met, what impressed me the most about Reggie was his courage, not to mention his willingness and desire to discuss his affliction. So willing in fact, that he, along with his friend, Lou Congelio (principle of Stan & Lou, a Houston ad agency), came up with a program called “Just Ask”. The idea was to encourage people to ask Reggie about his condition and help make others aware of the disorder.
Needless to say the campaign has been a huge success, making Reggie a highly sought after public speaker on NF as well as making him a bit of a local celebrity.
For the past couple of years, Reggie and I have been working together on a documentary about him and NF and hope to have it out soon (to see some of the images go to “fine art gallery>reggie’s world” on my website). In the meantime, be sure to check out Reggie’s website and blog at: http://www.reggiebibbs.com/