March 27, 2019 – When I started a photo-project last year – which I confess to immediately halting after I began – she was supportive and let me spend the afternoon in her restaurant; she knows that I own a camera. As a gesture of appreciation when she let me take those photos, I gave her a photo-book of the best images that I had collected; she knows that I can occasionally capture a nice image (the trick is to never let anyone see all the shit that gets discarded). So, when this humble woman who runs a cash-based breakfast and lunch counter in a small town in Upstate NY was asked to provide a head-shot to the the state so they could feature her on their website (after she received recognition for service to the community and our schools) she came to me for help.
“Can I ask a favor of you?” she wondered aloud Friday.
“Probably.” I replied, sitting at the counter with Austin. “What’s up?”
She took out her phone: she showed me the letter that she received and the expectation that she furnish the state with her head-shot for the press release.
I suppose that most business people who receive this (or similar awards) are in positions where they are often promoting themselves and have head-shots at their disposal, but that ain’t Darlene. We don’t have a local newspaper; folks still get the word out by advertising in the church bulletins. The pic of the diner on the back of her menu was captured with her daughter’s cell phone. She doesn’t have a website; most of her customers are still using flip phones. Her diner doesn’t have a Facebook page or a Twitter account. Our community is too small for GrubHub or UberEats. Darlene’s idea of promotion is bringing fresh donut-holes to the park across the street on Thursdays to sell at the Farmer’s Market, or hosting the high school sports teams for dinner before big games (not the football team, the place is too small). This is not a woman who has a head-shot.
“Can you take a picture that I can give them?”
eI don’t think she knew what she was asking. I think she was expecting me to grab my camera and bring it in one day to snap a picture with a nicer camera than she had, despite the shitty fluorescent overhead lighting. I don’t think she was expecting me to arrive the next day (after closing) with umbrellas with stands for my flashes, and a backdrop and some reflectors, insisting that she go home, shower, dress-up a bit and come back for me to take a few pictures.
To be fair – I am only a hobbyist who spends most of his time outdoors; this was a bit of a stretch for me and outside my comfort-zone, but I was up for a challenge. Of course, I wasn’t sure if they were looking for a traditional head-shot, or a more documentary-style environmental portrait, so I prepped for both with Austin acting as my trusty assistant.
When she returned, she was wearing her hair down and she wasn’t wearing jeans or a t-shirt – which I have only ever seen one other time in the last 7 years, at her mother’s funeral. She wasn’t at all comfortable with the head-shot – I should have done that last, now that I think about it. But through the magic of photoshop I was able to fix her posture. Then, I was able to replace the background with an intentionally out-of-focus image I had captured when I was prepping with Austin: the scene is of the wall behind the cash register and the picture in the frame is of her parents. She can submit this picture to the state for the press release, but only she will ever recognize that her parents are looking over her shoulder. The same parents who had run the same restaurant for 20 years before she had.
Once I got her behind her counter, she loosened up a bit, and I was able to quickly capture a couple nice images (I had promised her we only needed 10 mins). When I sent them to her the next day, she replied that they looked “marvelous”, and a few people approached me Monday morning to tell me how wonderful they had looked, so she had already shared them with some people.
I don’t know what will come of the photos – if they’ll ever be printed or not. It doesn’t matter, really. I had provided a service that had been rewarding for both of us. That was enough.
