|
Katie Newsome
After agreeing to the
shoot we set up a time and we agreed on a Friday afternoon and while I
waited for her to show I kept going back to her site at OMP to try and
gauge what this shoot would be like and how easy or difficult she would
be let alone who was she going to bring to the session with her and how
difficult they would be...
She arrived late but did call before hand to
say so and as I chatted with her I could feel that she was Polite,
professional and to the point, this
young lady knew her stuff and as I hung up the phone I felt that old
queasy filling that I always get whenever I am shooting people
pictures... It
was SHOW TIME
and she was on her way!
***
She stood five ten and with heels
you can add a lil' bit more, she had a pretty face, the hair was nice
and she was what I like to call "big boned" She certainly filled the
doorway and as I welcomed her in I saw that she had a female excort
with her which is better than a man because a woman understands the
concept of taking time to look good and isn't in a rush to leave so
another woman in the studio was ok but add a man in the mix and you'll
never get the "look" you are after because the models are worried/shy
about the man seeing them in a sexy pose or outfit.
***
As
she talked and posed for yet another photo we decided to take a break
and she asked if it was ok to smoke and as I went out to fetch a
ashtray Katie's friend said she had to go run an errand and would be
back in a little while...
I have always
been on the heavy side and a few years back I was a plump teen that had
issues with my weight and although my family was supportive of me I
still had this complex about how big I was, Katie said between puffs on
her cigarette. While she had shown me her portfolio earlier, there were
several images of a
plump brunette
wearing
a nice dress and as I pointed to one of the images that I knew was her
I asked who was this "other model" in her portfolio... That's me she
exclaimed
with a dry wit, that was when I was a little on the chubby side... I
had a lot of things going on inside my head and one night while arguing
with my dad I ran out, jumped in the car and drove off with not a clue
as to where I was going and really didn't care, I just had to get away
and as it got later and later I found myself in a quagmire... Go home
or sleep in the car? It was already 3 am and I had been driving,
crying,
driving for hours and my back was hurting,
I was hungary,
thirsty
and to top it off I had to go to the bathroom!-
I awoke the next morning with the sound of someone tapping on my window
and after gathering my thoughts as to my surroundings I looked up
towards the drivers side window and shook in fear at the sight of this
old straggly looking man staring back into the window at me... "Are you
all right miss's" Yes I screamed back and nodded, I'm ok. That began
the
first of 7 months of living in my car in the parking lot of Walmart in
Garner, North Carolina.
What was the most
exciting thing about
"living" in your car for those seven months of self exile from your
family and would you do it again?
The most exciting
thing about living in my car was getting to see the
world
in a whole new
perspective. I truly see it as a blessing because I
wouldn't
be the person I am
now if I wouldn't have gone through it. So yeah I
would
do it again, since
I wouldn't have been able to see that not all
homeless
people are just
lazy bums who just need to get a job. Most of them do
work
they just got
dealt a bad hand.
Here you are a woman... living in
your car in a parking lot. Were you afraid that something bad could
have happened to you?
I was constantly afraid that something bad would happen, but after
awhile
the fear got pushed to the back of my mind and I just forgot about it.
That's why I always slept near where the truck drivers slept, cuz I
knew
that they would watch out for me
during the night and help me out if I
needed it.
How did you get
food, water, clothing and
other basic stuff? I mean were you a bum and asked strangers for money,
or did you have a job?
I worked at least
one job the entire time I was in my car, for a
duration of
it I worked two
jobs only getting about 4 hours of sleep a night then
starting the day
over again. I just bought necessities like crackers
and
peanut butter.
Occasionally I would get Pork and Beans if they were on
sale
for like 50 cents
and I would save up money to buy soda. I never wasted
money on clothes
unless it was to buy a sweater from the thrift store.
That's all I could afford, because it was more important to me to have
gas in my car to get to work than anything else.
How did your
family and friends feel about
you sleeping in your car and did anyone of them ever come around to
check up on you?
I actually lost a
lot of my friends while I was sleeping in my car
because
they didn't know
how to handle it, and they were frustrated about me
sleeping in my car
and not being able to help me. To this day I still
don't
talk to some of
them b/c they still can't get over it and my parents
didn't
know for the first
couple of months and once they found out my dad
helped me
pay my car
insurance so at least I would have the car to sleep in.
What finally brought you back home and how
is the relations now with your family and father now?
The
thing that finally brought me back home is my dad's cancer came back
and my mom had a stroke so I came back home to help them.
My mom and I still
argue a little but sleeping in my car taught me to
hold my temper and I will always be daddy's little girl no matter how
old I am.
Did
you have a boyfriend at the time
and if
you did, how did he take all this drama from you?
No I didn't have a boyfriend at the time I was too worried about taking
care
of me to put anyone else in the mix-up.
The
truck drivers that parked there
overnight were your friends, did any ever try and hit on you?
None
of the truck drivers ever tried to hit on me, we'd just talk about
their families that they missed while they were on the road and some of
them would trade books with me so we'd have different books to read at
night. They were truly great guys.
When
did this
desire to be a model come into play?
The desire to be a
model has been there since I was
little. I grew up wanting to be in the spotlight, but my career really
took off when I made the decision that
I wanted to make
it big to make a difference in others lives. I've seen
the bottom and it doesn't scare me anymore and I know how to function
with out money. So I want to make it big so that I can help raise money
for good causes such as finding a cure for cancer so others don't have
to go through what my dad has been through, finding a cure for
Alzheimer's so no one else has to go through what my grandma is going
through, and finding better medicines for autistic children so that
these special kids can go through the day without dealing with side
effects from their medicine. I don't want nor need the money, I just
want and need to be able to help others.
Could you
tell us some of your diet secrets?
Hmmm my diet secret....... SEE
FOOD EAT FOOD.
I hate diets with a passion, I think that men and women should be proud
of themselves no matter what
they look like. it's what's on the inside that counts.
You could be the most gorgeous woman in the world but if you don't have
a heart of gold
people will still say your ugly.
What
are your
future plans as a model?
My
future plans as a model are
to go as far as I
possibly can in modeling so
I can raise money for others and maybe one day even open up a homeless
shelter for the young ladies in the same situation i was in.
UPDATE:
hey bill, i
hadn't talked to you in awhile and i just thought i'd say hi.
i
wanted to thank you again for
letting me model for you in december it has
opened
many doors
for me. i'm in talks with a few agency's right now as i
need
new
representation since my agency doesn't work with maternity
models.
yep that's right i'm pregnant, my
fiancé and i are expecting our first
child
a little girl in october. we're
completely excited. and once again i used
my
skills to use this as a stepping
stool for my career. we're talking with a
few
agencies that
need pregnant models and that will be willing to keep me
on
after the baby
is born since they'll already know my work ethics. i
again
want to thank you for giving me
the opportunity to put more print work on
my
resume and expand my knowledge of
the industry. i hope you and your wife
are
still doing well and let me know
if you need help in any future projects.
hope
to hear from
you soon.
katie
newsome
|
|
