Rudy Callegari is no top model. So when fashion photographer Nigel Barker tapped him to strike a pose for his “Senior Portraits” series, the 97-year-old World War II vet was thunderstruck. “I thought, ‘Who the hell am I that he’d want to take my picture?’” Callegari, from Red Hook, told The Post with a laugh.
“‘He could be taking pictures of celebrities. But he wants me?’” said the Brooklynite. “‘I’m honored.
’” Barker, who famously photographed the wannabe starlets of “America’s Next Top Model” in the mid 2000s, launched his senior-centric project this spring. While preparing his son Jack , 18, a high school senior, to take graduation pictures, the A-list lensman became inspired to immortalize golden agers in their golden years. A post shared by Nigel Barker (@nigelbarker) “I’m about storytelling, capturing the narrative of someone’s life,” Barker, 52, told The Post.
“Seniors have the best stories ever.” “They’ve seen every fashion change, every hairstyle change — so many changes in the world throughout their lives,” he continued. “I’m telling the stories deep in their souls.
” But Barker’s brilliance had to be clicking while tackling the task. Unlike the swanky supermodels he often shoots, such as Tyra Banks and Naomi Campbell, pensioners demanded speedy perfection. “Talk about being fierce and smizing,” said Barker, describing the hauntingly haute looks the seniors serve while staring into his camera.
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