Over Exposure
3
Back to Class
“Lorna” by carlo dapino, ID235428610 from Shutterstock.com
FRAN HAD, indeed, started on herself. When we went into her dressing room, she was naked and splayed out on her couch with her hand between her legs.
“Are you going to do me now, Nate? Adrienne?”
“I thought we were going to take some photos.”
“Bring a camera and shoot me right here. Shoot me with Adrienne holding me in her arms. Shoot me with you between my legs.”
“Are you too drunk for this?” I asked. Nonetheless, I grabbed my camera and took a couple more shots on the roll I hadn’t finished yet.
“I’m not drunk. I’m just incredibly horny and I want you. Both of you.”
I looked at Adrienne and she grinned.
“Do you want to find out what it would be like to be our little sex slave?” Adrienne said.
“Oh!” Fran clenched her legs and threw her head back. I think she came at Adrienne’s suggestion. “Tell me what you want me to do,” she panted. “I’ve been obeying the rules ever since the production started and I’m about to explode.”
“What are the rules?” I asked.
“Sleep with a director or casting director to get the role. Sleep with him once after production starts to thank him. Never sleep with the co-star. Always respect the other female actors,” she recited.
“You didn’t have to sleep with the director to get the role,” I said.
“And he’s too nice to take a thank you fuck,” she said.
“And why not the male lead?”
“It messes up the chemistry on set. We’re in conflict through most of the movie. Besides, he’s old! Like forty. Yuck.”
“I’m glad you didn’t toss that insult at him today,” I laughed.
“I’m holding it in reserve.”
“And I’m glad you are respecting the other women.”
“Oh, they’re great. And Lorna has taken me to a couple of rad clubs. But she’s a guard dog, too. She’s kept me from any temptations. That’s why I’m so horny. Nate, you’re the last guy I had sex with and my pussy is dripping.”
“What do you need to take with you tonight?” Adrienne asked.
“If I’m going home, just my purse with my keys,” she sighed. “If we’re going somewhere else, I suppose I need clothes for tomorrow.”
“Hmm. Put this robe on. Do you have slippers? Good. Take your purse,” Adrienne ordered.
“You’re taking me home,” she moaned.
“Yes, but we’re taking a long leisurely drive to get there. I think you’ll be our limo tart. When we feel horny and have a limo, we’ll pick you up and you’ll do exactly what we tell you to. Won’t you, little limo tart?”
“Yes, ma’am. Whatever you say.”
I was surprised to see Adrienne take the dominant role, but she’d shown that she was no one’s submissive but mine. And my girlfriends’. Anyone outside the family was beneath her. I could buy that.
I locked up my cameras and told Gary we were wrapped up for the night.
“We’ve got Lorna tomorrow night, though. We should be able to get started right after they call it quits. I’ll have dinner brought in for us.”
“You’re the top, Nate. Goodnight.”
I picked up Fran and carried her out the doors to the waiting limo. Adrienne was already inside. When I deposited Fran, Adrienne pushed her down on the floor and told her to take off her robe. She could have it back when we arrived at her apartment.
And then an hour of fun commenced as we tried to make sure that Fran got enough orgasms to last her until the next filming break. Suffice it to say that before we made it back to Fran’s apartment, we were all three naked. Adrienne sat on the back seat with her legs splayed open and Fran’s head between them, driving my mistress to one orgasm after another. With Fran’s lovely round bottom pointing up, I got right behind it and proceeded to bang her, bouncing her face against Adrienne’s pussy. I discovered that a well-placed thumb on—and eventually in—Fran’s anus drove her absolutely crazy.
The three of us were cuddled together kissing when the limo arrived at Fran’s door. She pulled her robe and slippers on and grabbed her purse, then brightly got out to run to her door.
What were Adrienne and I to do on the long drive back to her apartment? Well, we were already naked, so we took advantage of that up until the last moment when we had to get dressed to go inside.
The next day was an eye-opener as they filmed the first scene between Sally Jane and Joe. Joe was his typical suave and somewhat slimy self, but with a touch of uncertainty when dealing with the jailbait daughter of his current fling, Myrna. And this scene hit a little too close to home for me to be comfortable. Of course, Bert had no way of knowing that and neither did anyone else.
“Mr. Price, look at my school picture!” Sally Jane said, running up to him. “It’s terrible! Why do they make us all look ugly?”
“That’s really sad,” Joe said. “You’re much prettier than this.”
“Do you think so?”
“Oh, definitely.” Joe reached out to touch her hair and then quickly pulled his hand back.
“Would you take a better picture of me?” she pleaded. You could just see the wheels turning in her brain as she laid her trap.
“Well, if your parents want me to take a new picture, of course I will.”
“Oh, they’d really appreciate it. I have money for it.”
“Okay. I don’t have any appointments this afternoon. We can do a little work. Is this what you want to wear for your photo?”
Almost directly from a scene I’d once played out with Patricia pretending to be a schoolgirl and telling a story about how Mr. Hart promised her candy if she was a good girl. That was a great set of photos that she took to Tony.
Sally Jane was wearing a pinafore dress with a short skirt and a white T-shirt under it. Almost exactly like Patricia’s.
“To start. I brought some other alternatives with me.”
Of course, the scene was broken up into about twenty shots, but by the time it was over, Sally Jane was topless with her tits in Joe’s hands.
“I want it all, Joe,” she breathed.
“You’re underage. I can’t go any further than this. I shouldn’t be doing this.”
“Kiss me and think about what you have in your hands, Joe. You want it. I can feel you throbbing in your pants. I’m here and waiting, Joe. Take it.”
This scene was all about the seduction. You knew that he was going to succumb. No one would ever know. He was already fucking her mother. This would be no different.
I had to wonder about it. In this instance, Sally was supposed to be underage and using her wiles to seduce Joe. But Joe was twenty years older and he couldn’t stop his habit of seducing the girl in front of him. He might try to play it off as having been seduced by the girl and being helpless to resist her, but he was as much an instigator as she was. You could see from his first touch of her hair that he wanted to fuck her.
God! What a scumbag.
They wrapped up shooting for the day and we gathered in the break room for some dinner that Adrienne had catered in. It was just the four of us: Lorna, Gary, Adrienne, and me. Everyone else started to clear out.
“Tell me about what you’d like tonight,” I said.
Lorna was wearing a robe and I wasn’t sure if she’d put a shirt on or not. When she’d dropped the front of the pinafore during the scene, you could see the hard outline of her nipples on tiny breasts. Taking the shirt off showed they were just slight rises on her chest that reminded me of the first time I was out with Vicki. Or the first time I photographed Sandra.
It was hard to remember that Lorna was really twenty-three and not the fourteen-year-old she looked like.
“Well, I’m tired of playing teenies,” she said. “The business has been good, because directors know they can treat me like an adult and still get a kid-look. But after this film, I’m having my boobs done and letting my pubes grow. I’m ready to move to an ingenue role. So, I want a kind of commemorative set. My last set as jailbait. I’d like to really show off the young teen body and then next summer when the film is done and released, you can come back and do another set of the killer swimsuit bod I’m going to have.”
“Okay, so you want some schoolgirl pictures, but we can’t replicate anything from the movie. I got your promo shots during the day today. I’m not even sure we should use the set. Gary, is there anyplace else we could shoot?” I asked.
“There are other sound stages, but they might be reminiscent of some other show that’s in production. How about a background that isn’t the plain screens we’ve been using for the movie? There are some old flats in storage that I could probably get one or two of.”
“That would be great. Something that makes it look like we’re in a room of just about any type.”
“I’ll see what I can find.”
He finished his food and took off. I looked at Lorna.
“We need a slightly different look for you, too. Pigtails? Ponytail? Ratted up? What do you think?”
“Oh, don’t worry.” She pulled off her dark hair. It was a wig. Under it, she had very short blonde hair. “I brought a different wig and some other clothes.”
Adrienne and I followed her into her dressing room and she shed her robe as soon as she was inside. No, she hadn’t put on a shirt. She skimmed out of her plaid school uniform skirt as well and was standing in just a skimpy pair of pink panties. She reached for a wig on her dressing table and pulled on a reddish blonde wig that fell to just below her shoulders in Shirley Temple curls. The instant transformation was remarkable. She cleaned off her makeup and started reapplying a dark eyeliner and pale lip gloss.
“Don’t overdo the makeup if you want to look like you’re fourteen,” I said.
“Nate, I’ve been playing boner-inducing fourteen-year-olds for ten years. I know how to do the makeup. If you’re going to be in here watching, make yourself useful and rub my shoulders and back. I’ve been working all day and am sore.”
I automatically put my hands on her delicate shoulders and began rubbing them. Boner-inducing fourteen-year-old. Really? Once you were up close to her, you could see evidence that she was older. But boner-inducing, perhaps. She was hiding her real age with eyeliner, lip gloss, and blush. And doing a good job of it.
“I love the way you rub my back,” she said sitting back in her chair. “Why not rub my front a little?”
“Uh… Lorna, I’m not trying to make a pass at you,” I said.
“No. I’m inviting one. I know you’re just fascinated by my tiny breasts. Grown women are usually bustier. Here, treat them nicely and when you come back next summer you can compare them to my brand new boobs.”
She pulled my hands down off her shoulders and onto her chest. She might assume that I’d had no experience with small breasted women, but there’d been the model Gwyneth who was so self-conscious about her flat chest. Even Theresa wasn’t much bigger than this. And when I’d dated Vicki at fifteen, I think she might have been smaller than this. And of course, Sandra. I cut that line of thinking off as I gently stroked across Lorna’s nipples.
“Oh, that’s good. You make my nipples so stiff. They’ll look great under my top.”
She pushed my hands off and stood to get a top off her dressing rack. Yes, they looked good under the knit spaghetti strap top she pulled on.
“You’ll have to touch them up a little while we’re shooting,” she said. “I want to make sure they press out against the fabric in my pictures. And if you liked my little teenie titties, you’ll love my hairless little pussy.”
She didn’t show me just then, but pulled on a skirt that was so short her butt ledge was visible. She pulled it down, arranging it so it covered her panties, but just barely.
“What do you think?” she asked. “Would a fourteen-year-old boy masturbate on my picture?”
“Oh, no doubt,” I laughed.
“Well, enough sixty-year-old men have. You can, if you want.”
“We’d better take some pictures, then.”
When we left the dressing room, Adrienne had my camera set up and Gary had a nice wall erected that was some kind of paneling that had been stained. It looked a little seedy. I liked it. I started moving Lorna around and getting her in poses. And I was sure to keep her little nipples hard and poking at the top until she lost it. She hiked her skirt waist up just enough so that when she turned her back and looked at me with her thumb in her mouth, I was sure that I’d at least replay the image in my mind at some crucial point.
I slotted film in the 4x5 and shot a perfect image. And she didn’t stop there. The skirt came off and the little pink panties. And her hairless little pussy was very nice.
I finished and approached her to take her to the dressing room.
“Um… Why don’t you take Adrienne home and give her a good screwing in my memory,” Lorna said. “I’ve got something else in mind. Okay?”
“Sure. I was just…”
She turned me to go to the cameras so I could get the film ready.
“Gary, honey, could you get my clothes and help me to the dressing room? The floor’s really cold.”
Gary looked up with his mouth open and walked up to her. He handed Adrienne the film bag.
“I called the courier. He should be here in a few minutes.”
He snatched up the three pieces of Lorna’s clothes off the floor and then picked her up and carried her to the dressing room. The door closed firmly behind them.
Adrienne started giggling.
“I think the Best Boy is going to have to prove it,” she said.
We waited for the courier and then headed home.
We were at the studio at seven Friday morning and went straight to the viewing room. Man, I was glad they had coffee and donuts waiting. Adrienne and I settled into seats about halfway back. Fran came in and joined us. Lorna came in with Gary. I wasn’t sure they’d even left the studio the night before. Lyle came in and sat next to Reg in the front row. Bert and Frank were also up there. I recognized Dom, the principal cinematographer, Geraldine, and a dozen others who all grabbed coffee and donuts and settled into seats. The lights went down and the film started without preamble.
Geraldine had told me that whenever Reg yelled “Print it,” the shot was marked and the lab printed a positive from the negative with an optical soundtrack on it. If the scene was good but there was a problem with sound, it would eventually go to post-recording. They’d rerecord the voice in sync with the original track but without any other noise. Then it would be mixed with any other voices and with a ‘presence’ track that contained a background recorded in the space where the action was supposed to take place, but was all continuous instead of having possible differences showing up at a cut and splice.
That was everything I understood about viewing rushes. We went through the half-dozen short scenes from the first day of shooting and the whole dropping the film carrier in the slot worked well as a cut point.
“I think they’ll use that as the cut for transitioning from one location to another,” Adrienne whispered. “They can put in a shutter effect that will mimic what Lyle did and insert it anywhere in the film.” That seemed odd, but I figured someone with a degree in filmology understood it and I didn’t need to.
The scenes of Joe and Myrna were good. Just solid acting and cinematography. And when she dropped the robe from her shoulder, she was truly scrumptious. There was a smattering of applause.
Then came the scene with Fran in the studio. You could cut the tension with a knife. When the whole long scene was played from each of the three cameras, it was amazing. The applause was heartfelt and I squeezed Fran’s hand, which had somehow found mine during the playing of the scene.
Lorna absolutely exuded latent sexuality when she entered the scene. She seduced Joe with innocence and a calculated predatory gleam that absolutely radiated from the film. She got a good round of applause, too. Then there were a bunch of scenes of just Joe in the studio. One was of him smoking as he sat on a bed with a drink and looked like he was three sheets to the wind. It was a good scene, but I didn’t like the smoking. It didn’t ring true.
Most of the conversation was among the artistic staff. Director, writer, producer, cinematographer, sound engineer, and continuity coordinator. Everyone else filtered out of the theatre, grabbing another donut and coffee. Outside the doors, Dave—the PA for the production—had laid out 8x10 proofs of some of my shots that had been selected. These were the action shots, not my after hours photography.
People commented on the images and complimented me on the photography. Mostly, these were headed to publicity. They’d start pulling together the pre-release campaign that would begin sometime around Christmas for a summer release. All the slides and black and white negs that I’d taken while on set would remain with the production. I was just a finger on the trigger as far as those went and had no claim to them.
“We’re ready to go to the lab where a darkroom is reserved for you,” Adrienne said. “The negatives have all been processed and contact sheets printed. You should be able to go straight to enlargements of the images you choose. The transparencies from your evening sessions are ready, as well. You’ll be able to print Cibachrome. I’ll be with you if you want me in the darkroom, or I’ll be available to run errands when you want something.”
“Can we get a quick burger on the way? With nothing but coffee and donuts, I’m running on a sugar and caffeine high,” I said.
“Have just the thing,” she smiled.
I packed all my equipment and loaded it in the back of the limo. I would not be returning to the studio on this trip. She gave instructions to our driver and we took off.
I’d been to drive-ins before. Illinois isn’t really that backward, you know. We had carhops on roller skates and everything. But I’d never been to a drive-through. I guess I knew McDonald’s had them, but I always parked and went inside. The limo pulled into a lane at a place called In-N-Out. Adrienne ordered, paid two dollars for our meals, and we drove on. We ate in the back of the limo—cheeseburger, fries, and a Pepsi. The food was good and hot. I finished eating just about the time we pulled into the lab.
When we headed in, I saw a sign on the door that said ‘Service to the Industry.’ I asked Adrienne about it.
“This lab isn’t open to the general public. You couldn’t just come by and drop off a roll of film and have it developed. This is where all the film we’ve shot in the past week is sent to be processed and printed. What we watched this morning came through this lab. All the film you’ve shot in the evenings has come here for processing and proofing. They make darkrooms and equipment available for professionals in the film industry visiting from out of town to do special and art printing. Since Photosensitive Productions is an independent film producer, they’ll rent space here for editing and post production work.”
“Wow! They have a whole business for this! Amazing!”
“I’m not sure exactly how many, but I’d guess there are at least two dozen businesses like this. The movie business in the Los Angeles area is very big.”
Adrienne got us checked in and a guy came out to show us to a darkroom. This place was immaculate. He showed me where my negatives and transparencies were, gave me the envelope of proof sheets, and told me to call if I needed anything. The room was fully supplied with everything I could imagine needing. No one was there trying to show me how things worked. It was assumed that if I was renting the facility, I knew what I was doing.
Adrienne and I looked through the proofs and I decided I’d better do Fiona’s prints first. We knew exactly what she wanted and how many. I thought once the selection was made, any competent printer could have done these photos, but part of the deal was that Fiona didn’t want anyone else’s hands—or eyes—on them. Okay. I understood. I went into production mode.
I did note that the process went pretty fast when I was turning out thirty 8x10 black and white glossies. When the last one was rinsed, I went to Sue’s color prints. Sue was really only interested in one print and it would obviously be the 4x5 that I took. Adrienne and I examined the two transparencies and agreed immediately on the one Sue wanted.
This would be a two-of-a-kind portrait in full 16x20 size. I would sign both and Sue would get one and I would get one. Then I would scratch the transparency so it could not be printed again. Her agreement was very specific and I realized Adrienne had done quite a lot of negotiating to get it spelled out. I was thankful that I got to keep the 35mm slides. The agreement stated that other than the large portrait for the two of us, I was not allowed to print any other picture of her in anything larger than an 8x10. I wasn’t sure if I would ever print any of the 35s.
The image: Her dress parted to show her bits, the flower held between her breasts, and her head tilted back in the dance pose where we’d kissed. All the sitting had been leading up to this one shot and there would be only two prints in the world.
The prints for Jayden and Lorna were somewhat easier. Lorna wanted a signed poster size of her best print and I’d already chosen it. She also wanted half a dozen 8x10s of the best photos Adrienne and I decided on. There were no restrictions on her release. I could print and sell as many as I wanted. I didn’t foresee selling nudes that looked like a young teen, but since I was already carrying a 16x20 of Sue, I decided I’d carry one of Lorna as well.
Jayden wanted a selection of 8x10 color pictures to submit to a magazine. I’d been reading that lately, magazines had been requesting 35mm slides, some even for black and white work. When I got back to Chicago, I would order dupes of the selected slides and send them to her if they wanted them. For now, though, I printed the selection of half a dozen that she wanted and printed a poster-size to take with me.
The two black and white pictures of Fran were, frankly, a little obscene. I wasn’t going to print either of them, but Adrienne asked for an 8x10 of one of them so she could show Fran how slutty she’d been acting.
We finished up about eight o’clock and were driven back to Adrienne’s apartment. I was delighted to find that a meal had already been put on the table. A woman was in the kitchen.
“Will there be anything else, madam?” she asked.
“No, thank you, Marie. I’ll take it from here.”
“Yes, ma’am. I’ll clean up in the morning.”
“We’ll be leaving at nine,” Adrienne said. Oh, yes. I had an eleven-thirty flight to Chicago tomorrow. The week had flown by.
Marie never looked at me or acknowledged my presence, but scurried out the door.
“I’m so glad you thought of having dinner ready this evening,” I said. “The burger was good this noon, but I was getting pretty darn hungry.”
“I wouldn’t want my master to suffer pains from my neglect,” she said.
“You know, I think there should be rewards for a good and loyal pet as well as punishments,” I said. “You have been such a fantastic help this week. Honestly, without you, I don’t know how I’d have survived a week with the production crew. How can a loving master reward his pet?” I asked, leading her to the sofa and sitting with her on my lap. She cuddled close to me.
“You have revitalized me,” she said, kissing my neck. “A year ago I was feeling lethargic. I was making myself stay busy—making myself be sociable. When my sponsor suggested that I model for you, I jumped at the opportunity. And when I met you and found what a good person you were, I wanted to make you my master. Your involvement with this film project has given my life purpose and meaning. That is reward enough.”
“Perhaps so, but I think that soaking in the tub with me so I can bathe you and massage you like a good pet, would be a suitable last night in town. Don’t you?”
“That would be delightful. Perhaps when you have oiled everything, your beautiful cock might find its way into my tail.”
Indeed, it did. I had oiled and massaged everything. I faced Adrienne and rolled her legs back until they touched her breasts. Then I pressed my cock against her anus and pushed inside to make love to her. I relished the connection, both of my cock in her ass and our eyes locked together. We kissed and petted and neither of us hurried the process. Eventually, we reached our peaks and continued to kiss and hold each other the rest of the night.
The trip back to Chicago was sadly boring. I even slept part of the way. Getting home was wonderful! I had my three girlfriends and my little girl in my arms as soon as I entered through the gate. I had my portfolio with me as carry-on. My tripod bag, camera cases, and suitcase had to be picked up at baggage claim.
But the girls wanted to see the photos right then and there.
We sat in the gate area and I opened the portfolio to show them, first Jayden, then Lorna, and finally the stunning picture of Sue.
“How can you even come home to us Midwestern home girls when you can have all these glamorous Hollywood girls? And Adrienne!” Ronda complained.
“Do you think I’d trade any of you for any ten of them?” I asked, pulling her into my lap.
Anna quickly scooped up the photos and got them back into the portfolio as I did my best to kiss some sense into Ronda right there in the gate area.
“Let’s take this home where we can do it right,” Patricia said, tapping me on the shoulder. “Make believers out of us.”
And that was how I spent the rest of Saturday and all day Sunday.
Monday was August 31 and student housing opened at Columbia, even though classes didn’t start until the eighth. Nonetheless, I had to go to work. Freshman orientation started on Wednesday and Professor Hyatt met me in the photo lab where the new ID camera was set up.
“The camera and film are pretty easy, as you remember from last spring, but we’ve refined the ID frame and we’re using different color backgrounds for different categories. The blue background will be for regular full-time students. The orange background will be for part-time students. The red background will be for faculty and green for other staff,” he said by way of introduction.
“It’s heavy,” I said. It easily weighed as much as my 4x5.
“It’s an all metal body, which is needed for the laminating process. It shoots everything in one go and laminates the image from the frame camera onto the image from the photo camera. You load it with the film pack here, and the laminate sleeve here. The two photos are composited and laminated under 500 pounds of pressure. Sixty seconds after you take the photo, a finished ID is spit out here.”
“Wow! Um… How am I supposed to know who’s part-time, full-time, and staff?”
Hyatt sighed.
“Toughest thing we’ve had to work out. I’m lobbying to have the camera and everything in the registrar’s office instead of here in the photo lab. The administration wants to be sure it all works first before building a room for an ID camera. So, each person will be issued exactly one ID frame, typed up and signed in the registrar’s office. They will bring it to you here and it will indicate what background. You’ll insert the frame for the camera and pull down the right background. When the camera ejects the frame, you’ll check the ID to be sure it is correct, then deposit the frame in the shredder so it can’t be used again. Have the subject sign their receipt form and give them the ID. The receipts will be taken to the registrar’s office each day.”
“Okay. I guess I’ve got the idea. All I need now are customers.”
“Here’s my form and frame,” Hyatt said.
I looked at the form and pulled down the red background. These were a lot easier than the backdrops in the studio. They were basically colored window shades and retracted when you released them. I had him sit in the chair and loaded the frame and sleeve in the camera. I checked the distance and framing told him to look at the camera and released the shutter. The flash went off and sixty seconds later we examined the result. Professor Hyatt signed his receipt form and I gave him the very first official ID badge from the system.
I worked four hours and took sixty-eight photos—all of faculty and staff. It was fun to have Dr. Ranger, the Provost, come in to get his ID and have to go through all the same procedure as everyone else.
“I’m glad to see we have someone dependable manning this camera,” he said. “I trust you haven’t had any more hassles with your draft board.”
“Eerily silent,” I said. “All I know for sure is that after the lottery, the guy who was manipulating things was laid off because the board didn’t need as many members. The people of Hunter County are suing him and the other members of the draft board for fraudulently sending their sons into the army, but I’m told that could take a couple of years by the time everything is heard.”
“They say a bad lawyer can stretch proceedings out for months. A really good lawyer can stretch them out for years,” he laughed. “Be sure to let us know if you run into any additional problems.”
When I got off work, I had to go stand in line at the registrar’s office to get my own papers put together. I couldn’t get an ID until the next morning, though. The other guy who was supposed to be on this job flaked out and I was the only one working. They already had me scheduled for twenty hours this week instead of ten. Professor Hyatt was trying to recruit another photographer.
Most students didn’t arrive until the weekend. Freshman registration and orientation would start on Wednesday. After I got my registration taken care of, I picked up my portfolio and headed over to Camera Warehouse.
Levi was happy to see me and went up to the studio with me. Of course, Anna was already there, hanging new photos in the gallery. Levi wanted to chat about each of the photos and if we could do anything additional to make better sets like I had in Stratford. I figured there were not many theatres in Chicago who would send a crew over to install a set on the third floor for me to photograph and then come back and remove it later in the day.
It did bring up the idea that I might travel to do production photos at different theatres with my experience taking pictures on set in LA. I agreed that I could do that and he said he’d keep an ear out for opportunities. There were a few professional theatres in town, several community theatres, and a dozen or so college theatres. I supposed every high school had a theatre production at least once a year. Anna told me that Mr. Barkley in Tenbrook was in discussion with a group to turn my former studio into a little theatre. Wow!
We talked for quite a while about how things were set up in LA and in Stratford. As far as a space and immediate access to a lot of props were concerned, the Chicago space was the best of the lot. We might have had slightly better in Las Vegas, but much of that had come home with us. This was about as good as it could get for a studio space. On the other hand, Stratford had the advantage of a theatre festival with props, costumes, and even scenery I could borrow. They all had their plusses.
I didn’t often have time to just enjoy downtown Chicago with Anna. It seemed that Ronda and Patricia were often downtown, but with Anna’s school out in Rockford, she didn’t spend as much time here. After she’d had ample opportunity to go over books and check how things were going with Cassie, we just did a little walk down State Street and back on Wabash. The place had such good energy, it was exciting to be home.
“I’ll have to do the same routine this year as last spring,” she said. “My classes start the day after Labor Day, the same as yours. I’ll be going to my room in Rockford Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday nights. Then I’ll come home after class on Thursday for the weekend.”
“I wish you were with me all the time,” I said. “I know that’s greedy of me and I’m glad you’re getting the opportunity to do the full four years instead of just an associate degree. But I want you to know I miss you.”
“Do you imagine I miss you any less? All three of us were incredibly lonely last week, even with your nightly calls to us. We had to comfort each other a lot,” she giggled. “Not that it was a problem. You know, I’m convinced Patricia sprinkles sugar on her pussy before bed. She is so sweet!”
“I don’t think I got to taste her this weekend. I must put that on my list this week.”
“Get it before I lick it all up.”
“I never thought you two would get into that.”
“You know, we really fell in love with each other first. And with Ronda. I’m a little sad we didn’t get a chance to really fall in love with Beth. For a while, I was sure we would. But once we were in love with each other, touching and kissing and eventually licking all just seemed like a natural extension. I just love them. I love them as much as I love you.”
“Those words make me a very happy man.”
I only worked two hours on Tuesday and then went to the studio to look at the film and slides I’d brought back from LA and hadn’t printed. There were some additional black and whites I’d taken that I thought would make pretty good prints for the gallery and I wanted to post something in the gallery that actually promoted the movie. I thought the image of Jayden I’d taken on the first day would be perfect.
I was sure I had some images that I’d taken in Stratford that I never got printed. Olivia, Bridget, Kathleen, and Greta had all given me blanket releases and I’d left their photos on display in Stratford. We’d taken a lot of the photos with us when we left, but tried to leave a respectable gallery people could tour. That meant making duplicates of several pieces. I especially wanted pictures of Min in full body paint.
It was a peaceful afternoon and I left early so I could stop by an FTD florist and have a bouquet of flowers from the family sent to Beth for her opening night. Maybe it was a silly gesture, but it was a big night and I wanted her to know that even though we weren’t her boyfriend and girlfriends anymore, we still wanted her to succeed. It was a new play called The Emerald Slippers and I had the impression it was some kind of take-off from The Wizard of Oz and the ruby slippers.
I got home by four so I could make dinner. Patricia had started work again as soon as she got back. The store owner was very nice about holding her position for her. He said he did that for all his college workers. Toni, however, was not in daycare yet. She was having the time of her life with Mom Anna and Mom Ronda.
Wednesday was a different matter altogether. Freshman orientation and registration started Wednesday morning and I had a steady line of students for badges from eight until noon. I found out I could do about fifty an hour when there was a line waiting, which meant that there would be close to thirty hours of student photos assuming they all just waited in line for their badges every day. I’d only get about twelve hours done this week which would mean I’d get the freshman class all finished up, but most returning students wouldn’t be back until classes started on Tuesday.
And that was how my week went. I had a stack of brochures that Anna had made up for me that promoted portraits and Attic Allure photos for a discount if they showed an official student ID. Professor Hyatt suggested that by winter, we’d probably be making badges for DePaul, Roosevelt, Goodman, and others. We might even be traveling with the equipment and working full days to get them done. If even a small percentage of all those decided they wanted to take advantage of my photo offer, I was going to have a busy week.
That was in addition to classes.
I was required to take three classes that were focused on what was happening in Chicago. I’d do them over the next three semesters. The first one I chose was called The Chicago Fashion Tribe. I thought that was a pretty interesting concept and might be something I could use to increase my vision for the studio. I’d already experienced some of this in different areas. Hammer and his gang wore colors. There were fashion elitists that ran with my patrons. There was a definite college look among artists of all genres.
I had just two courses specific to photography because I had front-loaded my first two years with more than most in my major. The first course was Image Strategies. It was an interesting concept that said in the description, ‘Learning to consider the context in which your art will be viewed.’ I’d never considered that before. The second photography course was called Experimental Photography and would deal with things like hand-tinting images and using different emulsions. Cool.
I had to select a core humanities course and chose Urban Images in Media and Film. I figured since I was doing so much work with the movie out in California that it would be good to get some education on the philosophy of the medium as well as the technique.
And finally, I was taking my Makeup Techniques class so I could be better equipped to help with Leanne’s projects and so I could assist my clients better when I didn’t have an assistant who was trained in makeup. I’d picked up a lot of it, but this would help.
Fifteen credit hours and my schedule finally gave me Fridays off. The trade-off, though, was that I wouldn’t get out each day until four o’clock, Monday-Thursday. I thought it was worth the trade for having Friday and Saturday in the studio instead of Saturday and Sunday.
The first day of classes, Tuesday the eighth, I went to Experimental Photography at eight o’clock. The new schedule for upper level classes had us meeting in an hour and forty minute session on Monday and Wednesday or Tuesday and Thursday. I’d had a couple of classes like that in my first two years, but this year all of my classes were on that schedule. The class looked like it would be pretty interesting. I had twenty minutes between nine-forty and when I had to be on my job at ten o’clock.
I grabbed a bite to eat and carried it to the photo lab where a line of students for IDs was already forming. I kept my sandwich and coffee on a table behind me and started processing IDs right away. These were going to mostly be full-time students, so I pulled the blue backdrop and got people going.
I’d processed about thirty applications when Simon Otieno stepped up and handed me his form. I’d met Simon the previous year in my Education, Culture, and Society class. He was from Kenya and very dark skinned. When I took his picture, I couldn’t really make out the details of his features. I asked him to return to the seat so I could retake the picture.
During a lull the previous week, I’d actually read the manual on the camera because there were a couple of buttons I didn’t know what to do with. One of them was simply marked ‘Boost.’ The manual had said that the function increased the light output of the flash by forty-two percent to compensate for the additional light absorption of dark complexions. It didn’t register to me that it meant black people.
I pressed the button and retook Simon’s picture. I had a chance to compare the two IDs before I gave him the new one. It actually did improve the detail in his features. I tossed the first ID in the shredder and had him sign the receipt. I never thought anything else about it, but automatically hit the boost button whenever I had a black person sit for an ID.
Please feel free to send comments to the author at devon@devonlayne.com.
