The Photo Session

The snaps started with a hint of timidity. All these eyes watching as they drove by. It was a dead-end street where some construction equipment was being staged for work. Might have been part of a company in the area or just a convenient place to camp out until the next project. Either way, it was not the kind of place that favored the use of high heels.

Patna was determined to look very cute. She was dressed in her blue, yellow, purple and black. It was a hot summer day and she could not be told that she didn’t look hot. Her confidence slowly emerged. The poses started to flow more easily.

The photog had just planned a few shots and was quite content with the work. These would be a nice souvenir for her. Plus, she’d have a nice set of photos for her social media.

Patna had other plans. Now that she felt comfortable, she wanted to take advantage of the landscape. She liked the contrast it was showing. So, up the pile of medal she climbed for more photos. She strutted, posed, and climbed ever higher. It was quite serious.

This push intrigued the photog as he adjusted and kept pace. It was not common place to have a model take the lead and bring great ideas to a shoot. The typical client relied on the photog to come up with all manner of poses. Patna was in her zone and the ideas flowed.

What brought the show to an end was not the lack of memory storage but the fatigue of the constant up and down climb over dangerous construction equipment. The sun’s heat was not helping much either.

Patna had one more set of ideas in mind before wrapping up the session. She wanted to have a few photos capturing her departure from the urban runway towards her next hang out spot. While that was a big ask (the scene didn’t lend itself to showing a compelling departure), the photog opted to use the bus stop as a surrogate for the departure space.

As the shoot was wrapped, it was time to head home. The fun time was done. A good cool shower would do the trick.

Patna looked at the photog and paused. There was no way of knowing what was going on through her mind. What could she be thinking about? With a shrug of the shoulder, she mumbled “You done good”.

If the photog didn’t know better, he’d assume that it was a compliment on his skills as a photographer. But he knew better. She had finally felt like someone had believed in her. Little did the photog know that this would be one of the rare times in which she allowed her inner child to come out and play.

Her life has taken her many different challenging directions. The photog will never fully understand the nature of her life. What he knows is that she’s resilient in her own way and that for once, she got to feel someone believe in her as a person.

for the record… the mentor/muse connection was rather short lived… as often can be the case