By Chanda Temple
For The Birmingham Times
Sunday, Aug. 6 is National Sisters’ Day, and what better way to celebrate than to show the bond of sisterhood through pictures.
Birmingham resident Burgess “BJ’’ Jeffries will be in Railroad Park from 2 to 3 p.m. tomorrow near the main covered patio area to take photos of sisters. But this photo session will not be an ordinary session. Jeffries will shoot and edit all images with his iPhone 7 Plus. Then, he’ll combine the separate photos of two sisters, for example, to create one image.
Think of it this way: one side of the picture will show one half of a sister’s face and the other side will show the other sister’s face. When Jeffries combines them, it will be one photo.
It’s a concept Jeffries did earlier this year to rave reviews when he posted photos on his social media accounts. People wanted to see more. When Jeffries learned that Sunday was designated as National Sisters’ Day, he knew that would be the perfect fit to not only find more sisters to photograph in Birmingham but to highlight blood sisters’ unique bond. (The photos will appear on his new Instagram page, Fayce2Face. He said he will take photos of any sisters interested on Sunday.)
“The sisters I’ve already shot for Fayce2Face are very close,’’ he said. “When they are together, you see how connected they are. It’s like they are on their own wavelength. They have their own inside jokes and gestures that only they understand.’’
“And that’s what’s so cool about all of this – displaying that sibling love for all to see.’’
Sisters Kheri and Christina Lusain, of Birmingham, agreed, adding that the image Jeffries shot of them represents their relationship. They plan to enlarge the image and hang it in the new home they will share at the end of this month.
“I’ve always looked up to her. And she’s done the same thing for me,’’ said Christina. “We are both strong. We are both courageous. We are pretty much the same person.’’
Said Kheri: “I definitely think I would not have blossomed without (Christina) being my mirror, being my backbone, … and my bubble,’’ Kheri said.
When Jeffries started shooting the sisters in July on the Vulcan Trail in Birmingham, the sisters’ cousin and Kheri’s four friends joined them. Kheri wanted photos of the group to feature on her new blog, www.stillchosen.blogspot.com which she plans to launch later this month. As Jefferies snapped away, he started trying different angles and profiles in group and solo settings.
Remembering different poses he had seen in a wedding engagement photo shoot, he decided to try some of those poses. Then, it hit him to do the half-and-half image with the sisters.
He liked the results so much that now he’s interested in doing half-and-half photos of mothers and sons; fathers and sons; mothers and daughters, etc.
And, again, he’ll do it all on his iPhone.
“Some people think you have to have very expensive equipment to show your creativity,’’ Jeffries said. “But to me, what’s more creative than to take a common device that most people have, show what it can do and push it to the limit to see how much more you can get it to do.’’
“I could shoot these photos of sisters on any day. But I decided to do it on Aug. 6 as a tribute to sisters. I have a sister and I know how special that bond is.’’
Railroad Park is located at 1600 First Ave. South.
