Back in the late 50′s and early 60′s there was a television show named, To Tell The Truth. In this show, 3 contestants would try to guess who was the real Paul Lester, for example. The show ran into the early 1970′s, I believe. This show coined the very popular phrase, “Will the real [name], please stand up!”.
I get a lot of hits from Google for searches using my name, Paul Lester. The interesting thing about it is that if you do a search for that name, in order, here’s what you see:
- Paul Lester – Hey, that’s me! – My site comes up at the top of the list
- A professional golf photographer in Van Nuys, CA.
- Paul Martin Lester – A professor at UC Fullerton who teaches visual journalism, of all things! He’s written a few books that you could find on Amazon. I’ve never read them, though.
- Finally, to add a 4th contestant, there is the Paul Lester who worked on a movie called, The Photographer. He was the still photographer and second assistant camera for the film.
Periodically, bordering on frequently, and as recently as yesterday, I get e-mails asking me about golf tournaments and weddings. I know that they are intended for Paul Lester, the golf photographer, so I just either forward the e-mail to him or tell the person inquiring that they have the wrong guy.
I don’t know any of these guys, but we all share a couple of things: our names and photography, in some form or fashion. I find it quite interesting.
Even my phone number almost has a mistaken identity. My cell phone number is just one digit away from Laser Quest’s phone number; transpose the second and 3rd digits, 7-6, to 6-7, and you’ve got Laser Quest. I get several calls asking to reserve times. Hmmm, maybe instead of giving them the right number, I should start taking prepaid reservations. It could be a way to make a bit of money on the side because of a mistaken identity! Hmmmm!
I’ve always been partial to the name Xavier, or Jamal, maybe I’ll change my name! Xavier Lester … I like it! 
About the photo: A bit of fun with the camera. I was pointing at the trees in the back yard. I was moving the camera diagonally while taking some pictures. 1/125@f/11. This output kind of reminded me of something one might see in The Twilight Zone, or perhaps The Outer Limits.
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5 Responses to “Mistaken Identity”
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You might want to google your alternatives and see what company you’ll be keeping if you change. I’m convinced there are no unique names anymore.
Fun post today, Paul!! I wonder if any of them will be mistaken for you some day?
@Wren: I think you’re right about the unique name things. I did a search on Google for “Xavier Lester”. I got some hits, but not many and NONE of them were photographers!
@Micki: Thanks, Micki. It was rather fun to write. Who knows, maybe one day when I become famous, or perhaps infamous, they will be mistaken for me!
Interesting that the “other” Paul Lesters share the same interest in photography. I have googled my name and while there are a number of different people with the same name that come up, there is only one I’ve seen linked to photography that I have come across, me, and it is also the number one on the list. I wonder though if it comes up as first for others on other computers.
I also have nearly an identical number, save one, as my youngest son’s best friend’s home telephone number…how very odd is that! It’s really funny because the numbers are 5 and 8 so on the phone keypad they are right above and below each other, so it’s really easy to slip and hit the wrong one. I cannot tell you how many calls I’ve gotten from the mom or the dad trying to call home and instead calling me. When the mom makes the error and gets me we usually end up talking for a little while anyway so it works out!
Funny. I always think it’s funny when something totally off the wall directs people to my blog. I mentioned artist Georgia O’Keefe on my blog once, and now I get at least 30 hits a day just from searching her name. I also get tons of hits from the search terms “anorexic” or “anorexia”…which I don’t recall ever writing about. Luckily though, the majority of hits I get are from search terms “wedding photography”, “children’s photography” or something else similar. And my name brings a lot of hits too