The morning after prom night, I’d woken up from a very deep and much-needed slumber and unlocked my phone to see my own glammed-up face in a slideshow of an Instagram post. The photo of me was a small headshot, inserted among many other photos of the same type, all taken the night before. The song- a 2010s gem- was the high school, youthful, coming-of-age summer anthem. Tongue Tied by GROUPLOVE. I suddenly had this wave of future nostalgia come over me, as if I’d just finished watching a soul-crushing coming-of-age film that I’d go on to turn to whenever I was having a bad day. It really was cinematic; it perfectly captured the essence of youth in the movies and intertwined with the idea that high school’s over sooner than you think. I won’t sugarcoat it- I was pretty moved.
The account belonged to Natalia Carpenter, a fellow junior, or 2027 graduate, who I’ve known since the 2nd grade. Great kid.
I’d been following the profile for a while, and was beginning to look forward to new posts on the account. Another example of Carpenter’s work that predated her Prom post is the headshots she took during her musical theater New York City trip. She had one post of some of her classmates who also attended the trip, with the background being Times Square; vibrant lights flashing behind their heads, the glow of the city nearly blinding the viewer. Another post from that same trip was a group of faces unfamiliar to me, just outside of a building during the daytime. It was people at a Broadway show! For both of these posts, she took inspiration from another Instagram account.
“As a theatre fan, I followed an Instagram account called Broadway Polaroids where the person who ran the account went to Broadway shows and took pictures of the actors at the stage door. I always thought that it was super cool. Then, one day, I went to a really small concert at the Green Door in East Lansing, and I was talking to a group of friends about the account. They told me that it was a great idea to take pictures of the singers after the show or events,” Carpenter said. Carpenter took this inspiration and incorporated it into covering many other events- including the Prom post that I previously praised.
And because of that, Carpenter has taken a lot of headshots of members of the bands she’s seen in concert- for example, she’s captured Capital Soirée, The Maples, MORAVIAN, and The Back Alley. With the backgrounds containing set equipment, instruments, and sometimes fans of the band scattered in the distance, these band member headshots somehow perfectly embody the charming intimacy of a small-venue concert.
“I want to capture the happiness from after an event. Usually some singers ask me, ‘What should I do?’ I usually just say, ‘Do whatever you want. It’s your photo. Have fun!’” Carpenter stated. “Sometimes, when I’m seeing an artist, I take one of their songs and put it on the post. So then, when people see the pictures, they can discover their music… It creates memories that I can look back on,” Carpenter explained. “I intend on taking more pictures of singers and musicians. I want connections and hopefully reach big artists or even actors. Maybe even some discounts for concert tickets…”
You can find the rest of the photos posted on Carpenter’s account at artist_headshots on Instagram.
