Now that school is over for Molly, she does not have the regular excitement of Homecoming, Prom, Graduations, etc to look forward to. So this night was particularly exciting for her and she let me know that many days ahead by putting her hand to her ear as if she were making a phone call to a friend. "Katie" is who she was wanting to tell about the Photo Exhibit that she was going to be in. Katie was a very sweet friend in high school who is now a freshman in college. Molly shows me her FB page and that let's me know that she is thinking of Katie and probably missing her. We "called" Katie on Molly's hand phone MANY times this week. I wonder if she heard us? ;)
Rick Guidotti is a beautiful soul who used to be a high fashion NYC photographer who changed the direction of his career about 15 years ago when he saw the beauty in an albino woman standing on the street corner. He was drawn to her and asked if he could shoot her (with his camera of course) and that encounter changed his photography forever. He now travels the world taking photos of children and adults with genetic, physical, intellectual and behavioral differences for exhibits that are displayed around the world. "Change how you see, see how you change" is the motto of his Positive Exposure innovative nonprofit arts, education and advocacy organization. www.positiveexposure.org
Six weeks ago, we showed up for Molly's photo shoot not knowing what to expect. They said " Allot a couple hours, bring videos to watch, food to eat, and whatever toys that might engage your kids as we aren't sure how long each session will take and we have a few models booked at the same time." As I parent, I read between the lines on this: "whichever kid isn't losing it right then, get's to go first". So Molly and I walked in with our bag of goodies and her headphones ready to plug in and listen to her music. This is how she stays calm for HOURS on the sidelines of Jack's games and it works. It was very quiet. There were only two men in this big open area who smiled at us as we came in looking lost. I said "Is this where the photo shoot is?". "YES!!" Rick said enthusiastically. "Let's get going!". Oh, wow....Okay. I looked at Molly, her hair was a little crazy but since I have never really learned how to do her hair since mine is bone straight and hers is so curly, I just left it. I love her hair and just let the wave fly! She seemed a little off too. And by off, I mean really edgy. Tense. Having her picture taken is not on her top list of things she likes to do. When she tries to pose and say "Cheese", it's usually a grimace. I was nervous that even this expert wasn't going to be able to get a good one.
 |
| He took her outside. |
 |
| And inside. |
 |
| I took this one over his shoulder and loved the lighting he found. |
Click, Click, Click. He moved her from one location to the next. Quickly. Which is awesome for my girl. He was praising her and telling her how beautiful she was. And then he'd get REALLY excited about a shot as he would look at the back of the camera to see how an image turned out. Then he'd show me. Then he'd show Molly. Click, Click, Click. She was so grumpy and making unhappy noises and yet he kept moving along and wasn't at all distracted by her "differences" and noises. Click, Click, Click. I loved him immediately. "Let me see those beautiful blue eyes. Gorgeous". Click, Click, Click. It was shortly after this take that she disappeared around the corner. He looked at me like "what happened?". I looked at him and went to see where she had gone. She had slipped into the bathroom that was right there. Classic Molly who never tells you what she is up to. I think she really needed to go potty because afterwards she was so much happier and less gripey. And then it was over. It might have taken 10 minutes; 15 minutes at the most. Another mom and young child were just arriving so it was perfect for them too. I knew he had captured a good picture but I couldn't wait to see which one he used for the exhibit and we wouldn't know that until the show 6 weeks later.
So last night was the Gala Opening of the event at Chapel Hills Mall where more than 2 million people will see these pictures during the holiday season. I hope that many of you locals will stop by and see the pictures of these Colorado Springs community members. There is a nice little blurb under their names so you get a sense of the person. Our favorite titled a man "the worlds best paper shredder" or something like that and we all laughed as that could have been Molly if we hadn't nipped that OCD behavior. My absolute favorite picture is of a darling little boy (3-5 years oldish?) in a walker type contraption. He is looking into the camera with such joy it just makes you smile. I will go back just to take a picture of that picture to show you!
 |
| Brooke gave Molly flowers that she carried around all night long. |
 |
| Spencer was part of the fun too. |
 |
| LOVE this! |
 |
| They gave Molly a framed print to bring home. |
 |
| You can't tell at all that she wasn't enjoying the session, can you? |
We ate, we drank, we mingled with friends. It was a lovely night. Our "model" even took a couple people that we didn't know across the room to show them her picture. :) I hope that Molly has many more memorable nights like this. She deserves it!
 |
| Rick photo bombed Molly and her two high school friends. |
No comments:
Post a Comment