How I Met Lucy
Talking to strangers is fun, unlike I was taught when I was five (forgive me Mom, teehee). I’ve discovered that if I act like they’re already my friend, they usually end up that way. Such is the case with Lucy, who I found to be wonderfully kind, gentle, enthusiastic, grateful, and talented.
You know, sometimes the world feels scary to us all and we shut people out to stay safe—I still do that occasionally. And let me clarify, there are definitely instances in which we do need to take precautions. But when I saw Lucy and her friends having fun at the Utah State Capitol, I had a good feeling I could approach these total strangers and ask to take their picture. They might say no, but I could respect that. As a die hard introvert, I had to dig deep for the courage to do it.
Fast forward to an hour later and 300+ raw photos—but more than that, I noticed something unusual about Lucy. She was crazy comfortable in front of the camera. Posing? Not a problem!
“Wow, you’re a natural,” I said. “Yeah, I’m a model,” she replied with genuine modesty. Seriously? I couldn’t believe it! As a fairly new professional photographer, meeting a model was a Godsend, a real blessing. We exchanged info and did this creative photoshoot at Antelope Island, one of my favorite photoshoot spots.
I asked Lucy if she’d mind telling me a snippet of her story to share here. Her honesty and openness inspired me. So friends, here is a small chapter in the life of Lucy:
Me: What is a challenge that you feel good about overcoming?
Lucy: It’s probably any challenge, honestly. Any challenge that I come across I always take as a learning experience, and I’m always ready to learn and accept things for what they are, and to adapt.
Me: Can you tell me what you love most about modeling?
Lucy: The expression. I think that expressing yourself is very important. You know we humans have a lot of feelings, and expressing yourself is always important—whether it’s painting, drawing, photoshoots, you know? I think modeling is a great way to express yourself and your feelings.
Background info: Lucy is participating in “Next In Modeling”, a local social media version of America’s Next Top Model. She mentioned in her introduction video that she has known who she is from a very young age. I asked her if she might elaborate on that.
Lucy: You know, growing up religious, growing up mixed, it was very apparent that I was different from a lot of the Utah normal. So I had to be my own friend. I was bullied. I was ostracized. I was excluded from a lot of things because of the color of my skin. So, I think when I was young I really understood that I had to be confident and I had to be strong and I had to be myself…
Me: What are some of your hopes and dreams?
Lucy: I’ve done music my whole life, and so I recently have been able to release my first album…in September. One of my dreams is to become a full time artist…That’s my dream…I want to be creative, I always want to be creating all the time. That’s one of my hopes is that I will always create no matter what!
Being a creator is an admirable trait. To create is to give hope form. Thanks for being a part of my story, Lucy. I wish you all the best in yours and hope that you will keep on creating beautiful things to share with us all.
Six things we discovered together at Antelope Island:
The mosquitos are as abundant as flowers in spring, minus the color. If I had a dollar for every bug that I edited out of the final pictures…
Those tiny brine shrimp are kinda cute and pink, and the animal lover in me was sad when so many of them stuck to the dress.
The Great Salt Lake stinks a little, or a lot, depending on where you’re standing.
That high salt content is intense on the skin!
Killer sunsets are a given.
Together, we can make meaningful art.
