Looking Back.

I like what Sade says about the passage of time.

“The brave face of youth….it’s universal.”

As if age somehow makes for reticence. Engenders the desire to slip behind a closed door. The passage of time has a tendency to make people less attention-seeking. With maturity comes the hush of quiet. Or perhaps it simply makes for world-weariness.

I was rummaging through old photographs. I found a contact sheet from 1988. The photos were taken by a young woman I was friends with in high school. My hair is short and pulled back off my face. I am wearing a vintage ball gown and my cheeks are like apples. In the cut off images, my hands rest on the bare chest of a faceless young man.

Fast forward. The next image I find is from my hometown weekly newspaper. The year is 1995, It is part of a fashion spread for a small boutique. It’s one of the most relaxed modeling pictures I ever took. My fingers look very thin, and I am breast-less.