“A painted picture is worth a thousand words”

I like this cliché expression because it refers to the idea that complex stories can be described with just a single still image, or that an image may be more influential than a substantial amount of text. It also aptly characterizes the goals of visualization where large amounts of data must be absorbed quickly. So much bigger than photography.

“Girl Next Door”, “Lady of the Evening”, “It Girl”, “Diva”, “Pretty Girl”, and “Prima Donna” are usually descriptions giving to that young woman who stands out above the crowd. Some would even say that these types of women were often regarded as egotistical, unreasonable and irritable, with a rather high opinion of themselves not shared by others. Iman would read something like that and laugh and comment, “people too are funny Moe”. I was online and I googled the term “ jersey girl” to get a feel of what type of girl is a “Jersey Girl” and this funny summary came up:

"I am from NJ. I curse... a lot. I say "yo", and I say it often. I never had school on Rosh Hashanah or Yom Kippur. I sure as hell don't pump my own gas. I know what real pizza tastes like, and I know that a bagel is much more than a f@ckin' roll with a hole in the middle. I judge people by what exit they get off the parkway. I can navigate a circle--with attitude. All good nights must end at a diner--preferably with cheese fries. It's a sub, not a hoagie or, worse yet, a hero, and I wash it down with soda, not pop. Two words... "mother f@cker." I don't go to the beach, I go down the shore. And boardwalk brawls are just a part of the atmosphere. Yes, I drink cawfee. I know that 65mph really means 80. I've always lived within 10 minutes of a mall. When someone cuts me off, they get the horn AND the finger. And they expect it. I am from New Jersey, and damn proud of it."

I thought that was the funniest thing ever. Even though it was a rather harsh statement, I can envision having lunch with Iman and her telling me this. Iman is a model based out of New Jersey who is also another one my close friends. She is definitely like that little sister I never had; the one that didn’t want to hang with the other girls in the neighborhood but wanted to hang in the tree house. She is so multifaceted. She enjoys modeling the most, hanging with her close knit group of friends, and challenging herself to always exceed goals and expectations. Iman took time away from her vacation and did a couple of shoots with me. Before the shoot actually started, we went to a gallery to check out some artwork and one of the most common conversations that Iman and I have always deals with perception versus reality, especially when it relates to the aspect of modeling.

Her personality speaks for itself. Commonly, individuals see Iman as the edgy model, but today we just wanted to “paint” another picture. If I had to label Iman, I would use “All American Girl”. She represents a little every strong female out there. (Art Gallery courtesy of MILAGROS ART)