Whitney 154

"What a wonderful way to end this journey through time, Mr. Photographer. It was fascinating to try all your glasses on. You saved the best for the last. Thank you for the oral history about this part of Amsterdam during the fifties and sixties. And the experiments with the time machine are something I will never forget. It leaves me with a thousand questions. How on earth did you do it? But now I really have to walk to our first location to see the people who contracted me for a photo shoot in a studio".

"The pleasure was entirely on my side, Whitney. You see, vintage glasses are dead objects on display but you brought them to life. And not just that, you brought my childhood and my school days back in a magnificent way. Thank you so much for everything. I will walk you to the first location and we can talk about your well deserved fee".

"Are you sure? I was only killing time after the misunderstanding about the meeting point. And our chance meeting filled the hours in a magnificent way. You were telling me about the magicians from your youth. But you are the real magician".

"No, we created the magic together. Half the credit for the magic goes to you. Before I forget, here is a little present for you". He handed a CD to the actress. "This is the solo album I was referring to. One of the tracks is called Francesca. That's the song I wrote for Cis during the Love Summer. One of the other tracks is called Crystal Veil. It's a tribute to all girls and women in prescription glasses, you included. Here you are. And if you don't like the music, you can use the CD as a frisbee".

"No way. Your album will travel with me when I am heading back to the U.S. in two weeks. Now let's hit the road".

..............................................................................................................................................

This fine portrait marks the end of a highly unusual but epic photo shoot with marvelous results. Whitney is the 86th Lady behind Crystal Veil.

A word of thanks goes to the owners of the house where I lived during the early sixties. Seeing the house and the back garden brought back many precious memories. I look forward to talk with you about the early history of the house next time in Amsterdam.

Another word of thanks goes to the owners of ice cream shop Venetië for allowing us to do a part of the photo shoot in their premises. And the ice cream was as good as ever. Grazie, Paolo. Arrivederci!

Readers interested in a visit to the shop can check Venetië81@libero.it for more information.

A well deserved word of praise to Whitney will be added soon.