Blair’s beauty is the most eloquent
and innocent beauty that I have ever seen in a human being. It is safe to say
that she is the most beautiful human being I have ever laid eyes on, let alone
photographed.
I remember when I first met Blair.
I was photographing her best friend and a person I consider to be a dear friend
of mine, Morgan Wooten. It was a cold, rainy, all around miserable Thursday. Never
seeing Blair before, of course I was taken by surprise by her beauty. With
auburn shoulder length hair, fair skin, bright brown eyes that just pierce
right through you, and a smile full of gorgeous white teeth I found it
incredibly hard not to stare. I continued shooting Morgan while building a
friendship with Blair in the meantime as I do with most people who come along
on shoots. As I reached the end of my shoot with Morgan that day I found the
courage to ask Blair if I could photograph her. The reason I say courage is
because Blair’s beauty intimidated me. I know Morgan, Morgan is an amazing and
beautiful girl, but with Morgan it comes natural between us because of the
relationship we have built. She knows that I am going to say “chin up.” a
thousand times a shoot, and that middle way through is when things start to
become amazing. The same with her, I know and can read her facial expressions
and body language and am able to accommodate and regroup to make the shoot
better. Blair on the other hand, I had just met her. No relationship had been
built between us other than the hour and a half we had just spent in the rain
together. That sounds a lot more romantic than it was. The images of Blair that
I took were good; she was presented in a good way, capturing what is probably
the most captivating thing about her, her smile. However I wasn’t satisfied
with them once I got back to my computer. The human I captured was beautiful
but not to the extent that I remembered her being. It would be another month
before I saw Blair again.
I was yet again shooting Morgan
downtown Rocky Mount when the phone rang with Blair on the other end looking
for directions to get to where we were. The exit number I told her to take was
incorrect so it put her a few streets over and a couple of blocks down. After
running a half mile through a rough neighborhood I reached Blair’s car and just
like that we were riding back to the location catching up on how one another
had been doing. For those of you wondering
if I left Morgan alone. No, I did not. She was with my friend William who was
helping with the shoot that day. Anyways, back to the story. I am riding with
Blair. Even in yoga pants, with little to no makeup, a small fleece jacket,
rainbow flip flops, and her hair down Blair’s beauty still intrigued me. It was
at this point that I began to realize that it’s the experience of being around
her that aids to the sense of beauty I see in her. The apparent glow and grace
that she radiates provokes a sense of calmness from me that I very rarely feel.
The only photo I have of Blair from that day is the snapshot posted below as
she keeps my Alien Bee from blowing away; which she is really good at doing by
the way. You’d be surprised how hard it is to find a good light stand holder
these days.
Seeing Blair’s photos on both Instagram
and Facebook as time progressed, her beauty never seemed to fade and another
thing I noticed was that she looks the same in every photo from every age.
Almost as if she doesn’t age, in her face at least. I mean she has gotten
taller and her hair grown longer but her facial features never differ.
When I approached Blair about being
a part of this series her words to me were: “If you want me to, I would.” Of
course I wanted her to. I then expressed to her that it had irked my nerves
that I was unable to capture the beauty that I had experienced when meeting her.
Also that in my eyes she was the most beautiful girl I had ever seen and or
met. That is something I don’t say often, never even. I have told others that
they are one of the prettiest I know but never the prettiest as I did with
Blair and have done so on many occasions. I find beauty in all people. I try
very hard to see past the physical beauty and find traits within them that make
them even more beautiful in hopes to not show favoritism. At the same time
though, I am human. Of course I have favorites; of course I am attracted to
certain ones in different ways than others. We as mankind were born with
selfish natures. Blair exploits mine. Without even trying, mind you.
As Blair and I were walking to the
spot where we would begin our shoot we talked about her being nervous, how her
day was going and other random pleasantries. Truth is I was probably more
nervous than she was. I had just shot Stacie’s photos the day before and Jamie’s
just hours before my shoot with Blair. Both had turned out great, but Blair’s
scared me. What if I was unable to do her justice, or capture her beauty the
way I was experiencing it right now as we walk through the park?
The white summer dress she was
wearing belongs to Allie, a previous model and very old friend of mine. However
you can’t tell because to see Blair wearing it is almost as if it were created
just for her. We began shooting and getting in the swing of things and I could
feel that my demeanor has changed. I had transformed from a confident
photographer to an awestruck 22 year old guy. I continued working delicately with
Blair from spot to spot. All the while she was patiently following my
instructions and tolerating my crazy ideas. Trusting that the idea I had in my
head was indeed worth it. It was after this photo below that I calmly said, “Blair,
I got it. I captured the experience of your beauty.”
I hope you enjoy these images.
Thank you for your time and patience in reading this article. Also thank you
for your continued support of me and the work I am doing. For inquires about
prints, booking info, investment, or just to say hi please use the info listed
below.
Phone (252) 813-2977
Email: efphotog@gmail.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/emptyframes
Instagram: @spencer_bunting
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