Alexandria, VA – When I worked as a photojournalist, my camera was my passport to many new experiences.
The first time I photographed a debutante ball at the Belle Haven Country Club, I didn’t know what it was. I had never been to a debutante ball or a cotillion. I had never attended an event at a country club.
I recently learned from an article in Southern Living magazine that a debutante ball introduces young ladies aged 16 to 21 officially as members of society. Now, a cotillion, according to Home.org, is “typically a season of etiquette classes for middle-school-aged children that aims to teach important social skills and manners, and often ends with a final dinner dance where they get to show off what they’ve learned”
I was anxious walking into the country club. It was a black tie event. Would my camera’s black strap meet the requirement? Seriously. I still don’t own formal attire.
I began working as the girls were getting ready. The mom in me took over when I realized these teenage girls were primping in front of mirrors. They helped each other adjust hair and makeup. They could have been my own children. My anxiety dissolved.
Lessons? I now know what a debutante ball is and how it differs from a cotillion. I got an important lesson in approaching events with open eyes and an open heart.
The second lesson around the same theme came when I had an assignment to photograph a Special Olympics event on the grounds of Episcopal High School. I had never attended an event with so many people with disabilities. I wondered, worried actually, whether my eyes and heart would stay open.
As I walked across a large field, a young girl with Down Syndrome ran up and hugged me. The child’s innocence and joyful greeting made me see I was the one with the greater disability. I was so focused on finding “the picture” that told the story that I didn’t see what was in front of me.
That encounter allowed me a short time later to see and photograph two boys smiling broadly as they shook hands and congratulated each other after finishing a wheelchair race.
The girl’s hug was a gift that opened my heart and my eyes.
Following the death of Pope Francis, I saw a Facebook post of a photo of the pope holding the hand of young girl with Down Syndrome. She wandered up to the altar while he was delivering a homily.
Viewing the picture, I had a flashback to a priest talking at a reception I photographed. The event hosted by St. Coletta’s school in Alexandria. The school’s mission is to empower children and adults with intellectual disabilities to discover their full potential. I don’t remember the priest’s name or his parish. I just remember his closing words: Each of us is created in the image of God.”
A powerful lesson.
In my 30-plus year career as a photojournalist, people often asked me what camera I used or about the candlepower of the flash. I told them the make of the camera is not very important and that I didn’t know the candlepower.
What is important is to focus through the heart
Mosaic Artist/Photographer is the Founder of Living Legends of Alexandria.
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