The authentic You. I love my job. It’s an obsession and a responsibility not to be trifled with. As a purveyor of Happiness, it’s a serious business when it comes to one’s coveted image. A photograph is not just an image, just as you are not who the world says you are. There are layers to you. Sides we parade in broad daylight. Sides we share only within certain circles. And of course my favorite, sides we hesitate to show. The one we hold most dear, only open up to a select few. That’s home for me as an artist.

It takes something to get there. It’s a journey. A photograph highlights, it accentuates, imbibes the elixir that is you. I can spin tales for hours on how to prepare, be mindful of X, eat Y, this is what the day of will look like etc. But in the end none of that matters. It’s only after the first outfit has been photographed, when the client glances over to my monitor, where I hear hear all of the emotions, that magic truly begins. Last week my client giggled with delight. The week before, tears of joy. Lianna playfully smiled like a child. And almost inevitably, the line that is uttered with much exhaustive surprise and childlike bewilderment,

Is that me? I never thought I could look this good.

Happiness is whatever you desire, what you hesitate to show in the work of Art that You. Full Self Expression. My job, the most sacred of occupations, simply complex, wait for the moment. Sit. Wait. Listen with the eyes.

Scene

{Client steps in front of the camera. Done up and the embodiment of Art itself.}

KARJAKA: Ah, yes!

{His heart starts to race. Mind a little lighter with anticipation. Waiting, waiting, and, yes yes, and…}

KARJAKA: Hold it, that’s it, a little more… Got it.

YOU:

{Exhale.}

End Scene