Three days later the photographer paged Evan who called back as soon as he could on his next break. The photographer, Todd, said that he remembered Evan from the store but he wasn’t very convincing. They made an appointment for an audition on the following Tuesday when Evan had the evening off.
Evan dressed in his best shirt, open at the collar but tucked in to a pair of slacks. He made a point of wearing cologne, his best watch and a four-leaf clover pendant necklace his mother had given him when he turned fifteen. He followed the directions Todd gave him to one of the few three story buildings in the next town over. He parked in the gravel lot beside the building and headed in through the gray heavy door as he had been instructed.
Inside he followed the sound of a television up the stairs and through a doorless archway into a large room where he saw a backdrop in the far corner surrounded on three sides by studio lights. To the left he saw the back of a television, the soles of boots, the cherry of a cigarette or a joint then he made out a thin man in the darkness who stared back at him through round spectacles.
“You must be Evan,” the man said.
“Todd?” he asked.
“That’s me. Just let me finish watching this, oh it went to commercial break, come on over and let’s talk.”
Evan looked around the rest of the space. He made out a table along the wall to his right where he could see a drying machine, a light table, and a collection of other items like cans of film, magazines, and photo albums. The guy was a little weird but it seemed legit. He walked over to where the man sat on a love seat with his boots propped on a milk crate. Evan made out a second small couch against the wall but had to maneuver between the boots and the television to get to it. Evan looked down to see a sleeping cat.
“Just kick her out of there,” Todd said.
He reached for it but Todd was quicker to throw a magazine at it. The cat woke with the hit and looked up to Evan who only smirked an apology. The cat moved slowly and Evan assumed its spot.
“Beer?” Todd asked. He pointed to a mini-fridge under an old lamp that sat positioned between the two couches for easy access.
“Sure,” Evan said helping himself.
“Give me one,” Todd said.
He handed the man a beer before opening his own and reclining again.
“Alright let me go get a photo album and show you what I am looking for.” Todd stood, drank deeply from his can before carrying it with him over to the light table where he finished it then dropped it in a pile of cans. He picked up a album and returned to where Evan sat and set it delicately crate before turning on the light and getting another beer for himself and opening it easily with one hand while he opened the book.
“I do lots of different things. I used to run a family portrait studio with a friend but he screwed me out of the business. I can still pick up work doing that kind of stuff but usually I try to go there to do it. You know, high school proms and stuff, or portraits in the house around the fireplace, or graduation photos. But now I got into commercial photography through a friend and I have been doing advertisement work.”
The booklet was full of glossy sheet protectors with studio portraits of men and women next to a magazine ads for a clothing or department store, sometimes in the same poses. They were in various stages of dress and ranged from kids to adults.
“You see it’s up to regional managers to do the advertisements for the newspapers so they hire guys like me to take the photos. I am always looking for new models because if people see the same models in the pictures it takes away from the ad so there has to be a rotation of faces. I can use the same people for years but not all the time. So I have something coming up. Are you interested?”
“Yeah, definitely,” Evan answered.
“Good, so today I just want to do some test photos. Look through the book while I get things set up.”
Evan took a drink of his beer then continued to look through the photos. It was too easy, but then again it wasn’t guaranteed, just a few extra bucks here and there maybe. He looked to the television, which was black and white and shrugged his shoulders. The guy must not be rich, or else he doesn’t spend his money on televisions.
The commercial ended and Jeopardy came back from a commercial break, the volume was low. He looked to the corner of the room where Todd turned on the studio lights and prepped his camera on a tripod. He finished turning the page and looked back down at the page. A woman in a braw and panties stared back at him from dual images, one with names for the garments and the other just a pale white background like the one in the studio. She was in the same pose of casualness in both.
“Come on over,” Todd said positioning a stole in front of the camera.
Evan stood and walked to the stole where he paused to see what Todd would say next. He instructed him to sit and he did. Then he took a picture. Evan laughed and said that he had been caught off guard. Then turned his head a little, tried to think attractive thoughts, tried to remember what the photographer had told him in all his school portraits.
“Just be natural,” Todd said. “Don’t pose.”
“What do you mean?”
“Here have another drink.”
Evan took the can and drank deeply this time, as he did he heard another snap of the camera.
“Just don’t think about it. It’s just you and me. Tell me about yourself.”
“What do you mean?”
“Tell me about yourself. Start with your name. Tell me about anything. Tell me about your life. What do you do? Tell me about some chick your banging. Does she have big tits?”
Evan let out another laugh. It was always like this with guys, always some derogatory statement about women. He always played along to get along though.
“Well there’s my wife. She’s pregnant now so she’s got big tits. Of course they're swollen and really sensitive so she doesn’t let me play with them.”
Todd broke into laughter then said, “always the way isn’t it. They finally have something we want and we can’t play with it because they’re afraid we’ll break it or something.”
“Yeah it’s horrible, I mean she’s pregnant and now she’s basically bed ridden.”
“Sorry to hear that man,” Todd said.
“I don’t have to deal with it much though. I am usually out working. Two jobs, you know. Just to make ends meet and hopefully save a little for after the baby comes.”
“So the next part may sound weird but you saw the photos right, well I need you to take off your clothes. Start with your shirt.”
Evan stood and looked to Todd behind the camera but he could barely make him out in the lights. He had seen the pictures, lots of pictures of people, and he thought about the last one, the one with the woman who looked back at him from both a studio portrait and an ad, so he unbuttoned his shirt. Todd continued to snap pictures as they talked.
“The next job is a swimsuit thing, so I’ll need to see what you look like. What type of underwear are you wearing?”
“Uh, I didn’t know I would be doing this so I just wore a pair of briefs. Is that okay?”
“Yeah that’s fine,” Todd said. “Unless you are uncomfortable then we can find something else. I have shorts around here somewhere.”
He undid his belt, unbuttoned, and unzipped his pants to let them fall open. He felt awkward but as he thought about stopping, about Todd finding some pair of shorts it felt more ridiculous after all the pictures he had seen. But just his underwear, he thought, and hopefully he wouldn’t get an erection.
“Good,” Todd said. “Now turn away from the camera and look back to it. That’s it. Very nice. Now look away from the camera and put your head down. Now place your hands behind your back. Nice, now turn to the side and put your hands on your hips. Why don’t you throw your clothes off to the side while I get my second camera.”
Evan squatted to pick up his clothes and Todd was quicker than he had expected, as he was already taking more pictures.
“Did you get a nice shot of my ass?” Evan joked.
“Keep your clothes in your hands and turn towards the camera.”
Evan turned to the camera with his clothes hugged against his chest, one shoe in the crook of his arm the other against his left breast, an aqua green sleeve hung loose, his shoulders up and his face low as he stared back at the camera with a furrowed brow.
“Very nice,” Todd said. “Now just throw everything to the side.”
