DAY 285

PORTRAITS

Serendipitous

LIZA PULMAN, SINGER

Even if I had planned this shot—outside a major New York department store, with a cool-looking sports car to drive by—I could not have planned the gust of wind that caught Liza’s skirt, a la Marilyn Monroe’s famously staged photo shoot. Serendipity is often the additional element that is never factored into a photo shoot but so often and miraculously shows up at the perfect time.

This portrait captures Liza reacting to the sudden whoosh of air that surprised us both, and her instinctively pushing down her skirt to avoid embarrassment. What I did not expect was that a perfectly colored sports car would then pass by as this was happening, creating a perfect shot. Her expression adds to the moment in the image—the smile is completely natural and genuine, showing her happy surprise and relief that she caught her skirt just in time! —SA