Kurt couldn’t pinpoint the moment when photography became a “thing” for him. He always thought he’d end up in music or theater then later on dabbled in fashion writing when he realized he’d be way too boxed in when it came to his options in either of his original career paths. The job at Vogue.com was a heaven-sent at the end, though he only applied to help his Dad with the bills while he was in New York for college. Once Isabelle, his boss, found out that he could work a camera one day when their usual photographer called out sick for a small shoot, she armed him with directions and a phone number for the photographer and his assistant and he jumped in, stumbling through that first shoot with mishaps, but emerged with usable and relatively decent photos. After that, when there was an emergency in the form of a missing camera-savvy person, Kurt was the one the whole magazine turned to and he ended up doing more photo shoots than his originally appointed work. Somewhere along the line, he found that he really enjoyed being behind the lens, directing models into positions and picking settings and clothing suitable for whatever theme he was given. He figured it combined his love for fashion and theatricality and, in a marginal way, music, since there was always a soundtrack playing in the background of each session.

That he got to look at several rather breathtaking models had absolutely nothing to do with how much he enjoyed being a photographer. Nothing at all.