Empty. A rare scene when it comes to Lincoln Center and the ever so famous, New York Fashion Week. It was the end of a particular showing, I forget whom and it was just a rush of sartorialists and fashionistas heading towards their next invite. Strutting, posing every which way, every other second, but I stop. Think. Why take the same photo that every other ‘blog’ would have up within a matter of hours, no; uploaded in minutes!
Being a son of a father who once loved photography as much as I do, he taught me to always observe before shooting. So I did. What I’ve noticed was a pattern. Women in red bottoms, spandex, fur coats and sunglasses. They’re buyers of the market, editors of the times or just a fake who thinks they are the ish’, the Queen Bee. But one thing is in common, they dress for the cameras. They stop and pose, some even faking candid shots. Lame.
However a select few was of interest. The flashes stop flashing, women stop perking their lips and it’s quiet. The chaotic fashion free for all comes to an end, but only for a moment; it’s just the eye of the storm. Fifteen minutes before another round of a stylish hoard rush, a lady in her mid-twenties, irrelevant, appears and walks through those heavily secured double doors. At this time, all the other photographers were at other sites or inside somewhere warming up, it was freezing that afternoon! The individual seemed shy, didn’t want anything to do with the press, so I give her the space she seemed to want. As she walks toward the steps, I visualize a shot, turn on my camera and ‘nonchalantly’ walk towards the subject (I was across the street). Just as an officer would pull out his gun, I ready my camera and aim. I aim and pre-focus where I want her to be, just hoping she walks into my viewfinder. *click click click* 3 shots, three shots, one was sufficient, but 3 shots is what it took to get a photo like this. It’s a mediocre photograph, but to be fair at that time (a year ago) I thought it was a good one, I’m what the Guerreisms would consider “The New Generation”.
She must have heard my shutter go off because she looked up as a deer would when being hunted. Okay not really, but you get my point. She looks around and sees the other photographers coming out of their hiding spots and then turns to me. With a smile and a slight nod she looks at me and walks away crossing the street from which I came, the light turns red behind her keeping the other photographers unable. Disappointed, they (they being the sharks of my “intelligence”) turn to me and ask “who was that you shot, she seemed like she was important”. I then replied, “I don’t know, but there was something special about her”.
Being that NYFW is just around the corner, I’m hoping to bump into her and recreate or continue our ‘love story’.
Photo shot by Paul Chin of Lavish-Livez.com

