In the epic tragedy of facial hair growth and weight gain that has defined my physical appearance over the last decade, very few – if any – respectable portraits of me have been taken. Generally speaking, solo shots of me don’t end well. I usually need the presence of others in a picture to make me look halfway decent, but lately I’ve even somehow managed to ruin those with an air of creepiness. Zoolander had Blue Steel, I have “Chubby Wacko”.
A few weeks ago, however, my school held its annual winter formal. One of my classmates Elena served as the photographer of the evening and set up a simple but effective red backdrop that led to some stunning pics. While browsing through the hundreds of pictures that were taken that night, I came across this one. Apparently, at a point of the evening that I don’t quite remember, I snagged a free moment in front of the camera and managed to have this picture taken.
While the whole power-pose thing I’ve got going on is a little questionable, everything else about the picture – from the sweet black on red composition to the fact that my gut isn’t hanging out – has made me a full-blown narcissist. As soon as I saw this picture, I spent $12 buying a copy for myself, partly because I’m not quite sure when this will ever happen again, and partly because anyone who manages to make me look this good deserves to be compensated. $12 was a steal.
Mad props to Elena, my classmate and hands-down one of my favorite photographers. Check out some of her work and maybe buy a thing or two. You know you want one of these for yourself!
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