Tuscaloosa, Alabama
Thank you all for indulging me as I tried out something new. I am not sure I would want to shoot fashion as a career, but it was a lot of fun to dabble in for an afternoon.
It’s good to break out of your normal routine every once in a while, do something a little wild, a little scary, a little different. In this case, I found myself constantly second-guessing the poses that the primary photographer and his clients chose. I tend to think somewhat liberally but live fairly conservatively. Still, I was surprised at just how very shy, how very conventional I was when faced with some of the more provocative poses.
The model’s friend, a rapper, encouraged her to unbutton a few buttons here and there, pull her lips between her teeth in a pouty way, flaunt her assets. I kept quiet.
Once, I summoned the courage to ask her not to smile, to just look up through her lashes at me, but for the most part I took what was presented and made few suggestions. I wonder if I would have been different had it been my photo shoot. Would I have pushed the envelope even farther or backed down when faced with such blatant sexuality?
I suspect we all know the answer, but it was good to challenge my own boundaries, to question their origins and blur the edges just a little. Every moment is made up of ten thousand tiny moments leading up to it. I am not afraid to make the wrong decision, even if it is for the wrong reasons, but when I do I want to be damned sure that — right or wrong — it is fully and completely mine, borne of who I am and not who I have been taught to be.
I am not sure where I am going, and I am even less sure what I am doing, but for the first time in a long time I think maybe it’s going to be okay.
Music of the day: She Gathers Rain by Collective Soul (lyrics)
Favorite photo today: Downtown Pittsburgh, fireworks #1 by Btezra at What the Hell Happened Last Night?
Post of the Day: Life Lessons by Dawn at girl inchoate
tagged Alabama, people, portraits, Tuscaloosa, writing