The Mango Vol 1 Issue 6

Most people who live in central Massachusetts where the winters could crack open a beer would relish a 3-car garage -- not only as a borderline necessity, but also perhaps as a status symbol of grown-up success. For Rich Barnes, however, the success benchmark was a bit different. His priorities were less about ‘keeping up with Joneses’ and more about sharing a toast with them. “I thought I could have more fun in here as a bar rather than a garage. It felt like it could be a cooler space. So the cars sit outside now, but that’s fine,” Barnes offers. Barnes, now in his mid-50s, grew up in the same central Mass. town, about 15 minutes west of Boston. He attended photography school in the western part of the state and, after a lackluster job search, decided to open his own studio, which has been in operation for 35 years. His wife, Kristen, is also a photographer. They met at school and circled back together several years

later at a photography convention. “It was ... ‘I’ll show you my studio if you show me yours,’” he comically recalls. And now, a Key West honeymoon, one combined photography business, four children and a slew of pets later, they have a 3-car garage. Barnes’ grandmother was a bartender and an avid traveler, with a particular penchant for Hawaii. She usually returned stateside bearing souvenirs and stories from the tropics, affording young Barnes a connection to the escapism of paradise. But the farming communities of Massachusetts left much to be desired for those who longed for all-things- tropical. Thankfully every few years the family would take a break from the usual New England camping vacation and drive down to Florida. “I wanted to bring home anything I could find that was coconuts or palm trees. Once I brought home a suitcase full of Spanish moss, then discovered it was full of bugs. But it didn’t matter, I wanted to make my own jungle at home.”

The Mango

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N o v / D e c

2021