The Senior Prom Times - perils or pearls?

May 02, 2018 • Leave a Comment

Ah, the magical prom times. Girls, flowering with colorful and stylish dresses; guys - for the first time trying out a GQ look. The phones go clicking with constant sharing and praise... all the nature around is joining in on the celebration with happy colors and vigorous blooming... what a happy moment, isn’t it? Oh, what a hell of a stressful day!!!

Childhood! We are used to see it through the rosy sunglasses of our own distorted memories as a blissful and happy times. Not a worry in a world... just love, games, magic and excitement as kids move from one amazing activity to the next... and our teens? Haven’t they been dealt a lucky ticket? With all the technologies and new activities, with a court of devoted relatives dancing around them, with all the amazing opportunities, the horizons with in their grasp like never before!!! Just thinking of our own happy times years and years ago... Ow, wow... oh, wow!! Boy, does our memory play a naughty trick on us!!!!

Neither childhood nor teen years are easy-peasy bliss, as our own deceptive memories and overexaggerated efforts make it seem. Every Tom and Becky can tell you, that these are the times of thousands worries, frustrations, constant turbulence that the new innovations just triple and quadruple. What are their worries compared to ours?! They don’t have mouths to feed! Yet, every LEGO ship that doesn’t work out or a friend’s remark that burned a whole in a little self confidence - are killers. Add all those overbearing adults with all their expectations, rules, and limits!!... And the ones who get an especially hard one - are the teens. Every worry comes multiplied by a hundred, every expectation - drilled right through them with a chainsaw, every piece of technology and opportunity - is a hungry harpy on their back. I had a truly blissful childhood and teen years full of independence, love and support: so it seems today. It didn’t feel that way back then. Never would want to go back or, god forbid, trade spaces and worries of my adult life with today’s kids’ ones.

Prom times: picking the right dress: not too sexy, not too boring, not like someone else has, not totally out of today’s high School fashion and vibe. Add instagram pressures into the mix.

Next come the the self-confidence worries: too far, too flat, too short, too tall... my nephew came up with three stunning ways to invite a girl for a prom. Why three? Because despite being told “yes” every time, he, somehow, ended up in a necessity to go through it again, trying with a different girl... “Almost didn’t go at all”: is a phrase I hear every single time, despite countless preparations and anticipations.

The school are not making it easier in the girls: they leave such a ridiculously tiny time slots for them to prepare and impose such harsh regulations to avoid kids skipping school altogether that day! Getting hair, makeup, flowers, getting ready on this day is an acrobatic trick on its own.

Now add the peer pressures, parties, celebrations, some of which seem to trigger more anxiety than excitement.

In the end... I dare to think, that taking pictures turned out the most relaxing and fun moment of them all. Validating the beauty, crowning all the preparations with special memories, creating something tangible and stunning in the midst of all the chaos.

As a wishful thinking, these images don't have in them a thousand worried texts, soggy grass, eyes full of tears from worry. It has only the most beautiful captures of a girl so fun, playful, graceful, glamorous, wise beyond her years and blessed to be surrounded by those who love her so much. And in the end, that's what we want to remember, since this is what is more important than all the reasons for that worries...

I love how photography helps to chisel out in our memory only the most important: as the time goes by, the little unsettling everyday difficulties fade away. All of those little worrisome moments that overfill our patience, burst frowns all over our foreheads, fill our hearts with doubt... What stays - is the most important. Painful difficulties pale and subside or turn into the humorous stories.... Images help to reflect that; they even get us to this blissful place in our memories faster. The place that years and years from now will appear so valuable, heavenly beautiful and unforgettably touching!!!

Keywords: artistic, best, capturing connection, dream come true photo, freehold, girl, glamorous, marlboro nj, nj, outdoor, photography, preserve the moment, professional, prom, senior, stylish, teen, timeless, unique

Comments

No comments posted.

Home»Blog

The Senior Prom Times - perils or pearls?

Comments