A viable, die-able age

That is a familiar phrase to those of us who have read The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy. She used it to describe a 30-something character in her story whose actions set some things in motion that unpredictably, yet resolutely, led to death.

But I am using it to describe someone far younger, who probably had no control over what was going to happen. This post is a brief tribute to a fellow photographer, and a vibrant young girl. To someone full of life and energy, who could have been my friend (and perhaps that is what I am mourning).

Jonyrose Filip took beautiful pictures. The entire Austin modeling community knew her and I have hardly come across a model who wouldn't give an arm or a leg to be shot by her.

You don't really have to be a model to want beautiful memories, do you?

Near the end of Feb, I asked Jonyrose (prn. Joanie-Rose) if she would take pictures of me and Ro. We have wonderful family pictures of the three of us, and lots of pictures that I take of MrM and Ro. But I always felt I was missing a collection that would be special to my heart, something that captured my bond with Ro.

We met on the 7th of March, in questionable weather, and had a quick shoot around downtown. Jonyrose's mom came along and made funny faces at Ro and got him to smile. We had a nice and relaxed shoot after which JRo said she would send me all my pics in a CD. She was heading to FL and would be back in Austin on the 23rd after which she could make the prints that were included in my session.

By the 23rd, I had shortlisted my print candidates and I was waiting to narrow them down a little more. On the 25th, I looked up her page on our modeling/photography network, and there I saw it. "Rest in Peace, Jonyrose". She was dead.

Jonyrose died in her sleep on the 21st of March, from a known infection in a valve. She was feeling tired, went to lie down and never woke up. She was only 23. A viable, die-able age.

Her passing shook me up quite a bit. I had just met her. I had been thinking of her. She was so full of life just 2 weeks ago, perhaps even a few hours prior to her death. She was someone I thought I might get to know better, someone who would be a friend in the fashion photography world. And suddenly, while I was lazily shortlisting the pictures she took of me, she was gone. It pointed out the fragility of life to me, and the need to make the most of the present.

When we did our shoot, JRo said she would process my print selection for me in her usual style and I could do with the CD as I wanted. So, I'm taking the liberty of using her unedited images and making them look like the way I feel it fits best. I'm sorry I will never know what she intended it to look like.

Thank you for making these memories for me, Jonyrose.