Chapter 5 - The Second Photographer
The wedding had two photography teams.
I knew about one.
Julian and Olivia hired Mae Chen, a respected wedding photographer, and her two assistants.
The second team belonged to North & Main Living, a fictional regional luxury-lifestyle magazine.
I had heard the magazine would take a few approved exterior photographs of Hartwell House.
I did not know they had been scheduled to photograph the family.
Sabine sent the document.
TITLE:
HARTWELL HERITAGE — FAMILY CONTINUITY SHOOT
Beneath that:
Primary portrait.
South lawn.
4:40 p.m.
Standing family members centered.
Chair line cleared.
Then:
Secondary multigenerational image.
Terrace.
No mobility equipment in central frame if alternate positioning possible.
I read that sentence three times.
Elowen took the phone from me.
“Who wrote this?”
At the bottom was:
Prepared by C. Hartwell.
Cordelia.
My mother.
Then I saw the handwritten note beside Bram’s name.
Keep chair out of frame.
Not:
Bram out.
Chair out.
As if those could be separated.
As if a child could be detached from the equipment that gave him independent mobility for the sake of a cleaner photograph.
Elowen whispered:
“She was going to make him transfer?”
We did not know.
Bram could transfer with help in some settings, but he did not stand independently for long posed photographs.
Nobody had permission to turn his body into a prop.
Sabine said:
May you like
“There’s more.”
Of course there was.
