A Picture Moment

This picture is important to me in a few ways. When I post pictures on FB it's to celebrate that moment, which may not amount to so much to everyone else, but to me, it represents a moment, a memory, a lot of stories encapsulated in a single photograph. 

In this picture, I was one month into my move to Seattle where I had moved to for work. Seattle, a predominantly "Caucasian" city, did not have that many beauty salons that could handle my weave. A month into my move and my weave badly needed a wash, I spent all day researching until I found one in some part of town that was 30 miles away from where I lived, aptly located off Martin Luther King Drive (yes so typical that they locate the black folks just off some MLK themed hood). 

Early Saturday, with very little makeup, I up and left, driving 30 miles with a $3 toll and the stylist charged me an exorbitant amount just to wash and curl my hair. $68 I still remember it, because the salons in Atlanta don't charge this much. $40 that's what they charge in Atlanta. I remember that so well, because if you go anywhere else, and they say $50, you flip a switch just for that extra $10. But here I was paying this much. I spent about 3 hours in her salon, answered about a million and one nosy ass questions about my hair, Nigeria, Biafran war of all things, and, Atlanta and I still got charged for it. After it was done, I sat in my car, feeling reasonably pissed, and financially violated, I called my mum for solace. 

I said, "Mum, I got the hair washed but I had to drive 30 miles and pay $68." My mum asked to see what the hair looked like so I naturally took a Selfie. Because you can never send a Selfie to your Ma without smiling, I had to force this smile. She looked at the picture and advised, "It looks lovely, but let's work on finding a cheaper place." I agreed, started my car and headed home, driving past MLK drive on my way home. It was a beautiful sunny Seattle day too...as you can see by my sunroof...so rare to have sunshine in Seattle but I was too pissed to do any sightseeing. I just wanted to go home and pretend I didn't just spend my entire savings on getting my hair curled. 

Pictures don't have to be picture perfect, they just have to represent that moment that is memorable and poetic to you, that breathes life into that moment.

I see people on FB get up in arms with me because I don't post picture perfect, razor sharp I'm-Wearing-My-New-Dress pictures. That's not what pictures represent to me. If I look good in them, great. If I don't...well, you're just gonna have to deal with it. It's the look, it's the moment, the preceding factors that led to the picture, the memory that comprises that one solitary photograph that makes it THE picture worthy of being shared and celebrated.

We all need to remember that.