Have you ever been to a fashion show?
I didn’t know what to expect when I was invited to my first one.
All I expected was watching some models and fans like me curious about the new trending piece.
What I was not expecting was the most overwhelming and exhilarating feeling of my entire life.
When every model walked the catwalk, lights flashed in every direction.
Every photographer wanted to get the best shot because if you missed a single outfit and that made you miss that show’s winning piece, you lost any chance of your photos being featured.
I knew that’s how I wanted my pieces to be seen, I wanted everyone in the room to stop and take pictures of my art not because they thought it might win but because they knew.
Flash forward down the road until my first moment of triumph.
When my model came out wearing the latest Balenciaga design, the flashes were so frequent they could have caused seizures.
The audience normally content to just watch all whipped out their phones to take a shot.
Everyone in the room knew they were part of something special and I thought I became special in the process.
That is until I read the newspaper the next day.
On the front page, I saw my dress and thought here it is, my big break.
Then I read the article and all I got was a fleeting mention, one simple “Designed by Narcissa Balenciaga, this dress is the future…”
Every other word was about the dress, countless words that said what everyone could see in the photo.
A picture was literally worth a thousand words but both the article and photo itself missed the words that mattered.
Despite countless photos taken, no photographer caught the whole picture.
No mention of the hours I spent making the perfect dress.
They mentioned how it could be worn in every situation yet there was no discussion of the research I did to make that possible.
They mentioned how it would change the game yet they don’t talk about the game changer?
That happened down the road when my name got known and I made sure that everyone knew the most important words rather than photos that never showed the full context.
But in that moment, I realized that every photographer has the power to tell the story they want to tell regardless of the truth.
It’s why the uprising recruited you, Colt, the people’s voice needed the photos to coincide with the words people needed to hear.
It’s also why Zeus recruited you, he wanted your photos to show the world what he wants them to hear.
Pictures are worth a thousand words and a photographer is the narrator who not only tells the story but controls it.
So when you took that shot of me the other day, don’t act coy, I know a professional flash a mile away, what was it for?
Are you going to tell a story to demonize me or deify me?
Forget the photos for once, let’s tell that story in the ring.
At least this way I can control the narrative.