The other day I got this friendly e-mail from a certain Sheikha out of Delhi. She represented the young fashion label Masala Tee and wanted to know if I’d be willing to take a picture of myself in one of their shirts. No rupees involved, but I would get to keep the shirt after.

Me, old Chris – a model? 老雷??

Of course I said yes.

When I got the package a few days later, I tried the most obvious shot at first – the classic TLW-video perspective:

So here I am in my room, my books are there, the tv and the dvds, and my beloved plant. (I think it’s a yucca tree.) One thing comes to mind: The model has definitely gained some weight, and I think he’d have trouble competing on one of those model talent shows on TV. Maybe a little walking would help though…

But there was one bigger problem with the photograph: it was shot from the front, so no one could see the embroidering on the back of the shirt!

After a bit of experimenting I finally got an idea:

I took a small black & white picture from the walk and attached it to my back, then took the photograph from that perspective:

Definitely better.

The more I was looking at it, the more I liked this shot, not only because the embroidering was finally visible.

There is something to it on a more personal level: you see, it has been one and a half years since the walk. The picture shows both my life as it is now, and my life as it was back then. Sometimes that life feels very far away, while at other times I feel like I could still be out there somewhere, walking and pulling my caboose.

It’s strange: the weird beard on the little photograph and me – we are but one.

And now we are models!

Soundtrack: Barrington Levy – “Here I Come”