Exposure
19
Memorial
“Cora” by Natalia Semenchenko, ID110549513, licensed from Shutterstock.com
IT WAS FUNNY that none of us teens who lived here in Tenbrook—even those who had lived here all their lives—knew the 21 Club Bar and Grill down on the corner had once been a thriving hotel. It had two floors above the bar that were just empty hotel rooms, except the one where Garson, the janitor for the bar, lived. Eleven empty hotel rooms!
Part of the deal for Photosensitive Productions to lease the hotel rooms was to keep Garson on as janitor with his own room. He’d be responsible for hiring a bunch of people to come in and scrub the place from top to bottom. We checked the beds and decided new mattresses were in order, even though the bedframes were in pretty good condition. It turned out there was a store in Fulton that could supply mattresses and box springs for all eleven rooms for $47.95 apiece, and they’d remove the old ones. Don ordered pillows and sheets for all eleven beds, and decided we probably didn’t need much in the way of blankets if there was heat in the building.
I was amazed at how much he was willing to shell out for us. None of us was involved in the hotel renovation, which went very quickly. Garson hired every available farm wife and spinster in town and they attacked that old hotel with mops and buckets and a will to restore a village landmark. Pris and her older brother went through the hotel room-by-room testing the circuits and replacing outlets. Debbie’s family happened to be painting contractors and before the week was over, the entire hotel had a fresh coat of paint inside. Judy’s father was a furnace installer and went through the entire heating system to make sure it would stand up to full time residents.
Don hired them all, declaring it to be a local operation. The town was showing some pride in the restoration and Orion Topper, who owned the building and the bar, got an exterior contractor to clean and paint the outside of the building. It was possible other parts of town were going to be cleaned up as well. Mr. Barkley came in and did new window displays for the front of Center Marketplace.
Two desks and a file cabinet were delivered along with the new fireproof cabinet for my photos. These were set up on the second floor and two phone lines were connected. Mr. Barkley was getting some revenue from the unused second floor of the store.
The first resident of the Dutch Arms—a name we discovered when the façade of the building was cleaned—was Chrystal. She’d been commuting from the Hill Motel to the studio each day. She’d had all of us fill out W4 forms and put us on the payroll for Photosensitive Productions. My understanding had been that we’d be paid for our time in Las Vegas. Don said we were on the clock immediately. The girls were all blown away by being salaried at $400 per week starting May 19.
“What are we supposed to be doing?” Debbie asked.
“We’ve got a model coming in on Thursday,” Anna said. “And Chrystal says there will be a film crew in town next week to gather color and atmosphere shots of the town. So, before that, we need to have everything in perfect condition. Pris is busy over at the hotel, but the rest of us need to make sure Center Marketplace sparkles from the Attic to the grocery store.”
One thing about my models and girlfriends, they had never shied away from getting things clean. Chrystal, however, was shocked when she came upstairs from the second floor and saw five sexy teenagers wearing nothing but their tennis shoes as they scrubbed every corner of the studio, restrooms, and dressing rooms, and moved upstairs to dust and clean all the props in the attic.
“Is this how it is?” she asked me as I cleaned lenses and developer trays in the darkroom. I had briefs on.
“What?” I asked.
“They work naked? All the time?”
“Not when we have a model. But from the first, the girls all seemed to consider the studio as a place where they can just cut loose and be free. And I have model releases for all but Ronda and Anna. I can take a camera out there and direct them into poses and take pictures. I can take pictures of Ronda and Anna, too, but I can’t display them,” I said.
“When the camera crew gets here next week, they’ll want pictures in the studio. Do you think they’d run naked for them?”
“No, I don’t. You’ve been accepted as part of our team. Uncle Nate and Don have gone back to Chicago to get the girls there ready to come to Tenbrook. So, they don’t see it as a problem. You’re welcome to join them if you want. But a camera crew is outsiders. You’d need separate permission from each girl to film her in any state of undress,” I said.
“Well, if you aren’t offended by my rolls of flab, I might join them. First, though, we need to go over the shooting schedule for your models and the production purpose of having them here,” she said.
“We need Anna for that conversation. She is master coordinator of our studio.” I called Anna over and she sat on my knee at the table as we went over the procedure and timing of our models coming in.
“Just so we’re clear, Anna,” Chrystal said, “I’m only asking about this so I can run interference outside the studio. I am not trying to infringe on anything you do inside. I recognize you as the manager here. Our employment of you and the rest of the crew is to pay you so you can all dedicate your time to the studio. We don’t have responsibilities for you outside the studio.”
“That’s good, Chrystal. Please let me know if there is anything you need from us. When Cassie gets here there will be two of us focused on the business side of the studio. Just dealing with the consolidation of the two studios and getting our accounting and filing taken care of will keep the two of us busy most of the next month,” Anna said. I didn’t realize it was such a headache.
“The same goes here. If there is something you need, or if the film crews or production crew are in the way, let me know and I’ll take care of it,” Chrystal said.
“Our model today is coming in from Madison, Wisconsin,” I said Thursday morning as we gathered together. “Anna, what’s the order?”
“We have a full, immediate model release from Cora Smith. She is a theatre student at the University of Wisconsin and is hoping to get at least the basis of a comprehensive portfolio put together. She will be staying the night in our hotel and we’ll be able to work more tomorrow morning,” Anna said.
“Okay. We have a spec sheet for her. Judy, pull a range of suitable costumes from ultra-casual to formal. Ronda, she may be overly made up if she is really into theatre makeup. Handle her gently but firmly to get it toned down for photos. Now, Pris, you know the portrait lighting pretty well and we’ll start with the standard blue backdrop, but be ready to move to the theatre backdrops. I think we’ll want one of the very dramatic drops like either the blue night reflection drop or the red spatter. Keep that in mind for where we want to go with costumes, too, Judy. Debbie, be creative. Find me some props that will challenge her to make sense out of. I want to see how good at improvisation she is. We’ll put all ambient light out during the shooting, so let’s draw the drapes.”
We were off and running. I liked what I was seeing. All six girls worked together to get the studio ready for our guest. We had a light lunch ordered from the Bar and Grill, and then met Cora at one o’clock. Guests were now coming up through the store instead of by way of the back stairs.
“Welcome to Attic Allure, Cora,” I said when I met her. She was a dynamo of energy. I’d have to say she was a size twelve personality packed in a size two dress. She had a few things with her and Ronda conducted her to the dressing room. She and Judy helped Cora get ready for her portrait and our model arrived center stage, ready to perform.
We got right to work with the portrait and I started teasing her into positions and expressions that would show a range of ability. We even got rid of the stool for a few shots and I photographed her full length, holding a pair of rubber boots. She got right into it and I got a picture of her pulling the boots on over her high heels.
“Cora, part of the Attic Allure style is to offset a very glamorous pose with a prop that you need to work with. You did a great job with the boots,” I said.
“I’ve got a pair almost like them,” she laughed. “I was raised on a dairy farm in northern Wisconsin. We needed boots.”
“That’s great. Now, honey, how much exposure are you comfortable with? Some models want extremely sexy photos with partial nudity. Others want a bare look, but no exposure. Some never want to wear less than a hoodie sweatshirt. Where are you on that spectrum?”
She looked around the room and saw the six girls who were my assistants. She nodded.
“I’ve got no issue with nudity. You learn to be pretty free with that in the theatre. I’ve had to strip completely in the wings and put on a new costume in a sixty-second change. Nearly everyone in the department saw my T&A. On the other hand, I don’t want my tits and pubes showing in any photos. So, if we get those in a picture, I’d like to have them cropped out,” she said.
“We can work with that. Let’s start with the classic formal scene. I’ll let Judy help you get ready.” I turned to Debbie, Pris, and Patricia. “I think this is going to go well against the red backdrop from hell,” I said. “Let’s see what we can do.”
We changed the drop and moved in a couple of the falling man silhouettes, which actually did look like they were dancing when they were hung upright instead of sideways. Pris adjusted the lighting and made sure we didn’t have shadows on the backdrop. Cora returned in a gown with a plunging neckline that showed me she had a lot more up top than her portrait outfit had indicated.
“Wow! You look tremendous,” I said. She walked up right beside me and whispered in my ear.
“Not that I’m asking to be molested, but Judy said the experience was pretty intense if I just put my body in your hands and let you pose me however you want. If you happen to touch things you normally shouldn’t, we’ll count it as just part of the scene.”
“I’ll try to be respectful,” I said. “But we might brush together a little. Now you’re in a lovely ball gown and we have some dancing partners here with you. Let’s dance you into position.”
I moved with her as if we were dancing and managed to stand her in a position that looked almost like she was one of the silhouettes herself. I took a picture and moved to a slightly different position.
“Ronda, could you dust the cleavage with a little powder? I’m getting such a shine off the right boob, it’s blinding.” She was right at it and I think Cora was a little surprised that the first one to touch her boobs was not me. I got Pris and Deb to reposition a couple of lights. When Ronda was done, I moved back to Cora and checked her out.
“Do you know how many photographers would have just let the light reflect off my boob instead of having to say anything about it?” she laughed.
“None that care about their subject. Believe me, I want to make this the most glamorous image you’ve ever seen until we set up the next scene. I want your breasts to enhance your sexuality, not detract from it.”
“Have at it!”
And that was the way the afternoon went. We worked for three hours, until we were all pretty much exhausted. There had been a few touches here and there as I positioned her in different scenes. At one point she pretended to be a doll and I had to move her in every minor way I wanted her. I’d lifted a boob playfully and then let it go. Of course, it just went back to its natural position.
“I take it you can’t control these,” I sighed. “We might need some duct tape.”
“That’s cruel!” she cried. “But might work. Do you want to tape me up?”
I didn’t at the time, but I held the idea in reserve.
You’d think that now that I was in the same town with three of my girlfriends and a part-time fuck buddy, I would be having sex all the time. But we all lived with our parents. Patricia came home with me for dinner Thursday but didn’t stay the night. We still had a really nice time.
Kat had one more week of school, but she was finished with her big art project. She was wondering if, now that we were all home, she could have some of the other girls as models. I had to explain that we were supposed to be working full time to prepare what we were going to do in Las Vegas, but I supposed that on days we didn’t have a model client she’d be welcome to come to the studio and try to convince one of them.
I kissed Patricia goodnight and she went home. I took Toni for a dance around the living room and got her ready for bed. It was nice that I had a crib in my room. I would have preferred to have Patricia in the bed with me, but she really needed a night off. She, Anna, and Ronda were going to meet up with Cora and have malts in Huntertown. And I loved taking care of Toni. She was a sweetie and once I’d fed her, she’d sleep for at least four or five hours before she needed to be changed. I got her to sleep and collapsed in bed myself.
“We’re going to move to some more artsy shots this morning,” I said. “Let’s use the abstract backdrop and start with the fainting couch draped in red satin. Judy, I’d like Cora in a black corset and FFNs. High heels and… Deb, can you find that old top hat upstairs? Pris, let’s go for maximum drama. Wrinkle up the satin so we have lots of folds to catch the light and Ronda, she’ll probably need heavier eye and lip makeup to come across in this scene.”
We all went to work. Anna was at the big table sorting through the proofs from yesterday and marking what we wanted to print today. It was working well to have her processing film as soon as I got it out of the camera. She’d been in the darkroom with me for a while after the shoot the day before, learning how to pull a proof sheet. That would speed the process up immensely.
We got to work and we had a couple of lounging poses on the couch when I told Cora to spin around and put her feet up over the back. I held her as she leaned back with her shoulders and head over the edge. I checked to make sure she could hold the pose for a couple of minutes and she was good. I was afraid if I kept her there too long it would put a strain on her neck, but she was pretty strong.
I borrowed the powder from Ronda and lightly brushed her boobs and upper chest with it, then ran back to catch the picture. When that one was taken, I began stripping the pieces off her, one at a time. The bolero jacket came off, then I unlaced the corset. When I laid her back into position, I was pleased to see that I wouldn’t need to tape her boobs to keep them from collapsing to the sides. I did take a minute to make sure there were no shiny spots anywhere around them, and that the nipples were stiff and upright.
It was a good set and we moved on to the next. We managed four scenes Friday morning and then called it quits.
“Thanks so much for all the hard work, guys,” Cora said. “The proofs look magnificent. I can’t wait to see the final set.” She hugged each of the girls and then gave me a deep and sincere kiss. “Next time, all nude. I’ll have more areas for you to powder,” she whispered.
“I’ll look forward to that. Drive carefully getting home.”
I spent the rest of the afternoon in the darkroom with a rotation of naked girlfriends—and friends—in it with me. We managed a good set of fifteen prints and I made a second set for the gallery. We all enjoyed rubbing against each other, but we didn’t do any fucking.
Saturday morning, we had a truck to unload. Levi had sent a pretty good selection of the backdrops, costumes, and props to us from Chicago. He didn’t empty the Chicago studio by any means, but we’d be taking a bunch of our favorite things with us to Las Vegas. Don pulled up to the studio and Theresa, Cassie, and Leanne piled out of his car to help us unload and sort things into proper categories. The Tenbrook girls all loved meeting the Chicago girls. When we had the truck unloaded, the girls were shown their rooms in the hotel.
Don took Chrystal into Dubuque and they got back to Tenbrook before dinner time with a twelve-passenger bus. If we needed or wanted to all go someplace, Chrystal would drive us. The first place was to dinner at the Greek place in Huntertown.
“It’s nice to have transportation like this,” I said, “but this is not going to be comfortable for the trip to Las Vegas. I think I’d rather drive my microbus.”
“This is local transportation,” Don said. “You have way too much stuff to transport to Vegas to use something this small. We’ve got a charter bus scheduled for the trip. It will be like taking Greyhound, only the bathroom is clean. They’re big comfy seats that lay back so you can sleep. You’ll have two drivers, so even though they’ll take regular rest stops along the way, it will be a straight through trip. We can make the drive in two days.”
“Sixteen hundred miles? Wow!”
“These guys are used to long haul transportation,” Chrystal said. “I worked with them on a rock band tour and it was nothing to have a thousand miles between gigs. And those band guys travel with a lot of crap and more roadies than bandmembers.”
“Who all is going to be on the bus?” Ronda asked.
“Well, you are the band and the roadies all in one,” Chrystal laughed. “You’ll have the two drivers and me. And I understand the baby’s grandmother is coming, too, right?”
“That’s right. So, fifteen and the baby. How does our crap get transported?” I asked.
“The bus will pull a trailer that’s long enough to put your drops in. Really, guys, you are getting the rock star treatment,” Chrystal said.
Anna and I spent Saturday night in the microbus. Ronda and I were in it Sunday night. During the day on Sunday, we were all at the studio just getting to know each other and trying to organize everything. Chrystal was handling the logistics of how we were getting to Vegas, but we ended up giving the logistics of what was going to Cassie. She was brilliant at it and I was happy once again that we’d hired her. The girls all got along great and when they saw Patricia take her clothes off for her weekly photo with Toni, they all stripped.
Kat wasn’t at all fazed when she came in and saw them all naked. She simply went straight to Ronda and asked her to pose in her corner of the studio. I didn’t get Ronda to pose for me unless we were completely alone and the pictures were just for the two of us.
The next week, the camera crew for atmosphere shots came into town. We stayed dressed in the studio so they could record a kind of mini documentary about Attic Allure. Each of the girls did their spiel about how they became involved and what being an Attic Allure model had meant to them. That ate up the better part of two days before we moved into the street. They wanted pictures of everything they could get in the town and toured every place of business and every street and avenue. They even got us to show them some of the popular make-out places where we went to be alone. We all had to sign special releases for them to film us during the week. I noted Chrystal had edited the releases so they were strictly limited to what we did this week.
Since graduation had been the previous Saturday, Lisa and Jon were out of school and acted the part of high school kids. They even took the camera crew out to Jon’s favorite fishing hole behind his property, where he and Lisa went skinny-dipping. On camera! They also came up to the studio with the rest of the calendar committee and showed the calendar. They talked about how they’d come to Attic Allure to get their senior portraits done and the sexy shots for their calendar. I was privileged to be one of the only people who had a copy of the calendar who wasn’t a member of the Class of ‘69. But I’d also seen every girl in that class naked and had touched most of them intimately.
“Chrystal, why are they going into such detail on profiling the town and interviewing people?” Anna asked. “It seems like they’re doing a lot more than gathering atmosphere shots.”
“A movie has to have a set. Now, none of us know yet what the actual plot of the movie is, but the production company is in negotiations with the village council to set the movie right here. Of course, it would be presented as a fictional town, like Barnstable, Missouri. But they have to have actual streets and storefronts. I doubt that any actual footage they shoot this week will make it into the movie, but there are likely to be some local characters who are given bit parts. Movies need extras to be shopping in the store or walking down the street.”
“Wow! And you have to get releases from everyone who shows up on film?”
“And we have to pay them. Depending on what they do, they could make $20-$50 a day.”
As long as the people in town were good with it, I was glad they’d make a little something off our endeavor.
Wednesday afternoon, Deborah, John, and Cameron arrived for the Memorial Day Weekend. Deborah was very pregnant. John had gotten home just before Christmas and finished his active duty in the US Army the first of January. They’d gotten busy right away and planted that celebration baby.
“So, you three get my room,” I said. “I’m sure Cammie is much too big for a crib under normal circumstances, but we have one in my room for Toni and she can use that.”
“I’m a big girl!” Cameron announced. Indeed, the four-year-old was growing like a weed.
“You can have my little girl’s bed for this week, though,” I said. “Toni wants to grow big, too, and you’ll show her how a big girl goes to bed and to sleep.”
“Where is Toni?”
“She’s with her mommy and grandma tonight. She’ll come and visit tomorrow.”
“Okay!”
“And where are you going to sleep?” Deb asked.
“I’ve got a room in the hotel for the rest of the week. My whole crew is in town getting ready for our Vegas adventure and there’s a film crew getting atmosphere shots of the town this week. It’s a busy place.”
Of course, then I had to explain to my sister and brother-in-law what we were doing in Las Vegas and why there was a film crew in town.
“Will they still have the parade Friday?”
It had almost slipped my mind, but Mom jumped in and said that of course the parade would still be held if Billy could carry the flag.
“I feel really conflicted about marching in the parade,” John said. “I want to meet Tony’s wife and tell her face to face how thankful I am for her husband.”
“She’ll be there. I’ll carry little Toni. Which reminds me that I’d better let the film crew know about the parade.”
After we’d all sat around for a while, I went over to my room at the hotel. Ronda was waiting there for me.
“You might want to consider making this your permanent residence,” she whispered as we kissed and held each other. “I’m not positive, but I think this bed is more comfortable than the air mattress in the VW.”
“I think we should try it out, don’t you?” I said.
That was really all it took for us to start undressing and moving toward the bed. It was definitely more comfortable than the microbus. We tested it in several positions, but ended with the two of us face to face and my cock deep in her pussy as we came together. Having a bathroom in the room was convenient, too.
“So, the film crew should probably be here Friday for the most unusual Memorial Day parade in the country,” I explained to Chrystal and the film crew.
“Okay. I’m sure we can film,” the crew chief said, “but there will be too many random people showing up to get releases from everyone. Guide us to the right place.”
We went out on Main Street and I traced the path of the parade for them. It was only a little over a mile long. The crew was trying to find the best angles.
“Can we get a fix on the time this will start? We could be rolling when he comes around the corner and film to this corner. If we have the car waiting and running over there, we can pile in and get out to the cemetery before the crowd gets there,” the chief cameraman said.
“No can do,” I said. “The parade starts when Billy comes around the corner. The constable will be waiting for him and as soon as he passes, traffic will be stopped. Your best indication that he’s coming will be that traffic from the south will stop. It takes about fifteen minutes for Billy to walk to the corner and by then everyone will be following him.”
“Who’s the organizer? We could talk to him to get a fix.”
“There is no organizer. You guys need to pretend to be journalists who are catching a live occurrence. You’ve got all the warning you’ll get,” I said. “Now, when people arrive at the cemetery, they’ll filter out to decorate all the graves of soldiers. There will be two graves of special interest. That one…” I pointed out a stone, “…is the grave Billy and his mother will go to. They’ll plant the flag and place flowers. It’s Billy’s father who never returned from Europe after World War II. This one over here is where I’ll head with Tony’s widow and baby girl. He was killed a year and a half ago in Vietnam. Other Vietnam veterans and family will gather here, too, including Billy, who was wounded in Vietnam, and his Captain who is now our village constable.”
“You’ll be at this one?”
“Tony was my best friend. And you can put this on film if you want. This village got rid of a racist cop who continually harassed Tony and his friends because his skin was a little darker than ours. Somehow, that ex-cop ended up on the draft board and made sure Tony was drafted a month after his high school graduation. Tony was sent to Vietnam and died there, saving the life of my brother-in-law, who will also be here tomorrow.”
“How sure are you that the ex-cop influenced your friend’s draft?”
“I’m gathering evidence. There’s no place for a confirmed racist on the draft board.”
Thursday night, I took Patricia and Toni to meet my sister and brother-in-law. There were a lot of tears.
“It should have been me. I’m so sorry,” John said.
“John, please don’t be sorry that you came back. Your wife and daughter need you. And look at the new one in the hopper. Believe me, if Tony had come back, I’d be in the same condition. But you, John, you are the only thing that gives my husband’s death meaning. You are our reason to celebrate his life,” Patricia said.
“I have something for you,” John said. He reached in his pocket and pulled out an envelope. “Tony was loved by all our squad. He talked about his beautiful wife who was going to be a Playboy bunny. Whenever a guy got down or scared, Tony was there to pick him up. He’d say, ‘Look at this. This is my wife, a Playboy bunny.’ And he’d pull out a picture of you. ‘She’s going to be waiting for all of us to come home and you’ll see the most beautiful girl in the world. And if I’ve got the most beautiful girl in the world, you know there’s going to be one almost as beautiful waiting for you.’ Then he’d give that soldier the picture. It seemed like every couple of weeks, he got a new envelope of pictures of his beautiful wife and passed them around so we could all see what was waiting back home for us. When I left Vietnam, I promised the guys I’d return all the pictures Tony gave us to his wife. This is them.”
“That goofball. I can’t be a Playboy bunny when I’ve got a kid. They probably wouldn’t have let me just because I married him. But I loved how he thought I would be.”
“I had no idea then that all these beautiful pictures had been taken by my brother-in-law.”
Toni slept in a nest on the floor in my hotel room. Patricia slept in my bed. Only when Toni had gone to sleep, we didn’t. I knew what a stressful day Friday would be. But Patricia would have her family to support her. Not just Tor and Elise. Not just Jim and Ellie and Vanessa. But also Reverend Mother Superior, Grandpa Rich, Kat, Deborah, John, Cameron, Ronda, Anna, and me. We were her family and we’d kneel at Tony’s grave and weep with her.
I ignored where the film crews were. They could fend for themselves. We all stood at the corner of the highway onto Main Street as a semi truck came past. Then traffic was stopped. Billy and his mom came up the highway. His limp was still pronounced, but he marched proudly, carrying the flag. We fell in behind him. As we walked down the principal block of Main Street, the silent villagers fell in behind us as if Billy was a plow that opened a channel for everyone to flow into on the way to the cemetery. The entire parade and placing of flowers at the cemetery were done in silence. Stoney caught up with us at Tony’s grave. He was in uniform, like Billy was and like John was. They met as comrades who knew better than most the loss that this grave represented.
Stoney had told me a story he’d heard from an Australian soldier who was serving with a contingent of Aussies in Vietnam, that in most of the Commonwealth war cemeteries around the world there was this inscription: “When you go home, tell them of us and say, ‘For their tomorrows we gave our today.’” Yeah.
Off to the side of the cemetery, a trumpet played “Taps.”
It seemed everyone breathed again, released from the magical spell that held them captive at graves of fallen soldiers around the cemetery. Low conversations began. People started to move out of the cemetery and back toward town. Some had parked cars out near the cemetery to help the elderly and infirm back to their homes. We walked.
I carried Toni as Patricia leaned against me. John carried Cameron, who had decided she walked far enough getting to the cemetery and didn’t need to walk back. Deborah leaned against him. We all headed for the parsonage where Dad had a grill lit and was ready to put burgers and hot dogs on it.
Mom’s yummy deviled eggs were ready to be consumed, as well as Deborah’s potato salad. Kat had baked blueberry pies. Ronda and Anna each brought their own contributions—baked beans and coleslaw. I discovered that Anna’s coleslaw was as good as Gertie’s! Then the Mays stopped by and Mrs. May had a huge platter of barbecue ribs to put on the table. Mr. and Mrs. Marx arrived with a platter of chocolate chip cookies and Anna’s younger brother.
By half past noon, we were ready to eat and I welcomed Chrystal, Theresa, Cassie, and Leanne to our gathering. Patricia went up to my room and changed from her black dress to a pair of shorts and T-shirt. Deborah came down with her and the two were giggling over some private joke. It was good to see.
“I’m not sorry to see the film crew leave,” I said. “We can get some real work done this week. And that isn’t to say everyone hasn’t been working the past week. But we have clients this week. Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Thank you for spacing them out, Anna. So, this afternoon, we’ll be focused on integrating the whole crew together, while still trying to set up some artistic poses for our first model.”
“Who do we have and what kind of settings do we need?” Theresa asked.
“She’s a dancer. By that, I mean ballet. She’s had a few performances in Chicago with different dance companies, but is looking to really step up her game—possibly in Las Vegas,” I said. “Obviously, we’ll want a standard head shot and a nice dance pose or two. But what I’m looking for is ways to turn her into an art piece. I think this gives us a unique opportunity to shape a scene around her and get some real drama in her poses. She’ll be here at one, so let’s see what we can come up with.”
It was great to get the whole company working together to brainstorm settings and props. They came up with some interesting concepts by combining what the Tenbrook girls had experienced with what the Chicago girls had seen.
Our session in the afternoon went for a little over four hours. And she definitely wanted artistic nudes along with more costumed pieces.
“How about making you into more of an artwork yourself,” Leanne asked.
“What do you mean?” the model asked.
“Nate, if we picked up a couple of pieces, like, say, the top hat and high heels, then I painted a tux shirt and tie on her, how would that be?”
“That’s a great idea, Leanne. Do we have the supplies needed to do that?”
“I brought my entire makeup kit with me. That’s full theatrical makeup, in addition to street makeup. I have enough of everything we’ll need. But I’ll need you to help apply it. Jo-Lynn is tiny, but there’s more skin here than I can cover in an hour.”
“Are you okay with all this, Jo-Lynn?” I asked.
“The concept sounds great. And… um… I don’t mind you helping,” the dancer replied.
We set to work on her right in the middle of the studio. She was already naked, so Leanne sketched in the outlines and from there, it was like using a paint by number kit on a very interesting canvas. Leanne laid in the white parts and gave me a tub of black makeup that I applied to the parts we were blocking out.
Like most dedicated dancers, Jo-Lynn had modest breasts, but they were quite sensitive to my touch and I thought having her nipples erect under the makeup would make things more interesting. She seemed to be in agreement.
It took half an hour, working with just black and white makeup, to put a shirt, vest, and tie on her. Judy brought the top hat and a cane, as well as a pair of white gloves. From there, it was lighting and posing. We used the black backdrop first and then switched to the red. Jo-Lynn took a variety of poses and I guided her with my hand often on her bare bottom. I suppose we could have had her put pants on since most of the photos I took were waist up, but why hide such delectable bits that she seemed quite willing to have on display?
“How do I get this off?” Jo-Lynn asked when we were finished with the session. I hadn’t even thought about that.
“If you don’t mind having a couple of girls freely handling your body, we’ll go into the restroom and remove the makeup, then wash you thoroughly,” Leanne said.
“Do I get to choose which girls get to freely handle my body?” Jo-Lynn asked. She was eying Ronda. Leanne laughed.
“The one you’re looking at and me,” she said.
“Oh, yeah,” Jo-Lynn sighed. The three girls headed for the restroom as I took the last roll of film to the darkroom to process. Anna met me there with proof sheets from all our work so far. She just took the last roll from me to be processed while I took the proofs to the table to select what prints we should pull together. I had a feeling that cleaning Jo-Lynn might take longer than putting the makeup on. I could almost see Ronda salivating. I didn’t realize Leanne had a bi side.
As soon as the last roll was processed, I went into the darkroom with the proofs and Anna locked the door behind us. She stripped off her shirt and pulled at mine until I took it off. We hugged each other and then went to work on the production line of making prints of the best pictures. We’d gotten some interesting effects and there was one picture that was perfect to print larger in an archival copy for the gallery.
When we were finished, the studio was quiet. Everyone else had left for the day. I knew Jo-Lynn was staying at the hotel overnight, but Ronda was coordinating everything that was needed with her. She’d stop by the studio in the morning and pick up her prints.
Anna and I pulled our shirts on and headed out the back to the microbus. The two of us went to Huntertown for dinner. Afterward, Anna came to my hotel room for the night.
Uncle Nate arrived about mid-morning on Tuesday, just after Jo-Lynn left. He flopped down at the table with me, causing a couple of girls to hurriedly duck into the dressing room to put their clothes back on.
“I like this,” he said, looking at the photos of Jo-Lynn. “Unique concept and one I think you could take quite a ways.”
“I don’t think I’d want to put this into our stock of standard things we pull out for models,” I said. Leanne sighed. “I see it more as something we develop conceptually and bring in models specifically for the work we want to do.” Leanne perked back up.
“I think you might be onto something. Leanne? I understand this was your brainstorm. What do you think?” Uncle Nate asked.
“I thought at first Nate didn’t like it. But I see what you are getting at and it’s really more of what I had in mind anyway. When I first came to you and… um… got a feel for what you do, I started thinking of creating a bunch of characters that we could put together with mixed body paint and costume. Um… For example, I’m kind of a science fiction and fantasy fan. There is a lot of cool artwork. I started with Buck Rogers and went to Tarzan and Conan the Barbarian and Doc Savage. I came across a couple of artists that I really fell in love with. Frank Frazetta has been around for years and years. Boris Vallejo is newer but in the same fantasy art genre.”
“I know Frank Frazetta,” Patricia said. “He drew some of the “Little Annie Fannie” comics in Playboy.”
“So, what about this art inspires you?” I asked.
“Um… Well… the girls. I guess some of the boys, too. In most of their artwork, the girls are barely clothed. So, she might be dressed for battle and carrying a big sword, but all she’s wearing is a wide belt that prevents you from seeing her crotch and a couple of tattoos. I’ve got a sketchbook of designs I drew that would put girls in ridiculous situations with nothing but body paint and a belt or maybe jewelry and tattoos. Not biker tattoos, but elaborate Egyptian designs,” Leanne said. She was really enthusiastic.
“I like it,” I said. “I want to see your sketchbook and see if we can select a series to create and photograph.”
“That’s one of the things that attracted me to you and your studio,” she said. “I can paint girls, and it’s fun. But what do you do with them? You can’t just display them. Not for more than an hour or so. But they can be photographed.”
“I think you’ve got a good idea there. Don’t let it become the only focus of what you are doing, but you can certainly make room for it,” Uncle Nate said. “Now, I’ve got some other news. Your patron is dead.”
“What? My God! How’d that happen?”
“It seems he was seen striking his wife in public and one of his own henchmen took exception to it. Ike is dead and his former bodyguard is in prison,” Uncle Nate said.
“Well, I guess I can kiss that goodbye. Is it going to affect how I work with Levi at Camera Warehouse? Will we be able to go back and get things set up like they were?” I asked. I didn’t have any emotional attachment to this Ike fellow. It was the first I’d even heard the name of my patron. I knew he’d been partially responsible for supplying me with equipment and materials and even models.
“I don’t think you’ll have a problem with continuing to work at Camera Warehouse. Levi is enthused about continuing the relationship and wants to figure out a way for you to have a large format camera, which would be ideal for the kind of photography you’re talking about with this makeup thing.”
“Well, I’ll probably earn enough this summer to buy one and still make tuition this fall. I really don’t want to take out another loan. I don’t have to start paying interest until I’m out of school, but I’d rather not keep piling up debt for college,” I said.
“That’s smart. I wouldn’t rule out your patronage, though. First of all, Ike wasn’t the only person enthused about your work and helping to get materials and models for you. And secondly, I got a call yesterday from a distraught Sylvia Drummond who asked that I assure you none of this was your fault and she never intended it to end this way. But she said she was a complete convert to your photography and pledged to continue to support you through her patronage.”
“Oh, shit. I hope that doesn’t come with a price. She really wanted me to humiliate her in our session together. I can just imagine her wanting payback,” I said.
“She’s the kind who gets off on that kind of thing. I wouldn’t be surprised if she wants another photo session, but once again, she’ll be the subject and the object. Not you. Until then, she said she’d deal with Levi to see that you got whatever new equipment you needed. As a kind of memorial to her late husband.”
Somehow, I felt like an accessory to murder.
Please feel free to send comments to the author at devon@devonlayne.com.
