I attended an awards luncheon today, hosted by the media company for which I work. I was the photographer for the event.
It was the typical set up of beautifully set round tables of eight chairs. Centerpieces with fresh flowers, flawless spring green cloth napkins folded “just so”.
As the photographer for events, one of the benefits is that I and my co-workers, which consist of the events team, the sales team and the design team, sit at a table together and enjoy the event, while we watch to make sure everything is flowing smoothly.
Today’s event was at a lovely venue, one of the best in the city, and thankfully, it is in my town. Often I have to drive downtown Cincinnati to attend these functions.
Food was the consistent, but delicious, fresh salad with balsamic, grilled chicken in a sun-dried tomato sauce, new potatoes roasted in parsley and butter, whole green beans, warm, soft rolls with perfectly flowered pats of butter and sweet tea with lemon.
As the photographer, I eat a little, wait for the next speaker to step onto the stage, hop up and get a few photos till the next queued speaker is up, then repeat. I eat, take photos, and eat. It’s not a bad gig.
Once during the event, I stepped out for a moment to grab another SD card and ducked into the coat-check room to change it out.
Even the coat-check room was beautiful; soft lighting, carpeted flooring, wall-papered walls, and gold hangers. Then I looked up high above the rows of hangers and saw this (above photo). Wow.
It looked like a lot of confusion. Here in this respectable, well-known, high-dollar event venue, was this mess.
Thankfully, to someone in the building, this is entropic artistry. And to them, it all makes sense.
Perhaps this venue is a bit like me. I know how to dress and act and speak and function; when to smile, when to be subdued, when to be bold.
However, if someone were to peak behind the curtain and into my head, it may very well look like this. Beautiful chaos.