Editor’s Query
Tell us about a time when ... a personal photo revealed something unexpected
it was near the end of my final year in high school when I received my senior class photo package in the mail. These shots, taken by a professional photographer, were the pictures that would mark the milestone of my upcoming graduation. Mom would be adding my portrait to the gallery on the wall that already included the senior pictures of my five brothers and sisters. I was the first to see the package
and immediately opened it to gaze at my face. Immediately, I realized that there was something wrong with the picture, but I couldn’t figure out what. I called some of my family members over to look, and they couldn’t find the problem, either. It took a few minutes of puzzled staring before I realized what had happened: In the process of touching up the photo, my birthmark had been removed. And my birthmark was no insignificant port wine stain; it covered a large portion of my face. I was sure it had been there in the proofs I had reviewed at the studio, but now it was definitely gone. My initial reaction was: Wow, what
or immediately be judged by his appearance. I decided to keep the pictures, but I wondered why my family hadn’t seen the mistake right away. Their answer was a testament to
an absolutely awesome touchup job! So, this is what I would look like without the mark that had made me so self- conscious throughout my childhood. Then another feeling took hold.
My family had always emphasized the positive side of my birthmark — that it was something that made me immediately stand out from my classmates, the thing that defined me as unique, as special. I had accepted my looks years before, and the idea that a photographer would touch up my face because he or she thought it was unsightly offended me at some level. But the allure of the altered photos
was very strong. It was partly teenage vanity, but it also went deeper: Here was an image of a young man (me) who wouldn’t draw curious stares
how they had helped me cope with my physical imperfection for 17 years: “We don’t even notice your birthmark anymore, so you looked the same to us.” My senior portrait still hangs on
the wall with my siblings’ pictures, but I’m reminded every day I look in the mirror that I’m unique and that no professional touchup can change that. Peter Kester, Springfield
New query
Tell us about a very unusual holiday picnic.
If you have a 100 percent true story taken from your own experience concerning the above query, send it to queries@washpost. com or The Washington Post Magazine, 1150 15th St. NW, Washington, D.C. 20071. Include your daytime phone number. Recount your story in 250 words or fewer.
Your Turn Reader reaction
Reaction to “Beasts of Burden” by Laura Ann Mullane in the May 30th issue L. Tobias of Bethesda e-mailed: Kudos to Laura Ann Mullane for her beautifully written and moving piece. I hope that “Beasts of Burden” will spur support for horse rescue organizations. It would be wonderful if it were possible for schools and community organizations to work with horse rescue groups to develop riding and outreach programs, especially in urban and suburban areas. skowronek posted: Despite the focus of this particular
article being about thoroughbreds, this isn’t confined to one breed. Off-track thoroughbreds may account for 30 percent of the equines at the low-end sales, but that still leaves the other 70 percent of other breeds (or unknown breeding) also “participating” in this. Days End Farm Horse Rescue (www.
defhr.org) has been around for more than two decades. They can always use more help. tniederberger posted: Galloping naivete! As long as we have horses, we will need slaughterhouses for them. The majority of horses are raised initially by little suburban girls
2 The WashingTon PosT Magazine | June 20, 2010
who go off to college and forget the animals that stand in the field for years without anyone doing any more than bring them food. No training, no regular workouts; next thing you know, you have a 2,000-pound animal without respect for humans that thinks it can do whatever it wants. The neglected horse has become a dangerous animal and needs put down before it hurts someone seriously.
Want to share your comments? E-mail us at wpletters@
washpost.com (please include a daytime telephone number) or visit
washingtonpost.com/magazine.
PHOTOGRAPHS COURTESY OF THE AUTHOR
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122 |
Page 123 |
Page 124 |
Page 125 |
Page 126 |
Page 127 |
Page 128 |
Page 129 |
Page 130 |
Page 131 |
Page 132 |
Page 133 |
Page 134 |
Page 135 |
Page 136 |
Page 137 |
Page 138 |
Page 139 |
Page 140 |
Page 141 |
Page 142 |
Page 143 |
Page 144 |
Page 145 |
Page 146 |
Page 147 |
Page 148 |
Page 149 |
Page 150 |
Page 151 |
Page 152 |
Page 153 |
Page 154 |
Page 155 |
Page 156 |
Page 157 |
Page 158 |
Page 159 |
Page 160 |
Page 161 |
Page 162 |
Page 163 |
Page 164 |
Page 165 |
Page 166 |
Page 167 |
Page 168 |
Page 169 |
Page 170