Model Collage © Tony Powell
I jokingly told a friend – a few weeks ago – at the premiere of the Anna Wintour documentary “The September Issue,” that one day my pictures would be in VOGUE magazine. Little did I know it would become a reality much sooner than I anticipated. I owe it to Barbara Martin who recommended me to VOGUE after seeing my “The September Issue” after party photos taken at the W Hotel, an event she coordinated. None of this would have been possible without the support of Nancy Bagley and Soroush Shehabi, Owner/Publisher and CEO respectively, of Washington Life Magazine, who keep me in the public’s eye – photographing the best events in DC on a regular basis!
Mayor Adrian and Michelle Fenty © Tony Powell
So it came as a great surprise to be given the opportunity to photograph Evenings in VOGUE, hosted by the wife of Washington’s mayor, Michelle Fenty, and Nancy Koide. The fashionable crowd that descended upon Oya restaurant on 9th Street, in the District, was a who’s who of the DC social and nightlife scenes. The partial list: Mayor Adrian Fenty, Rima Al-Sabah, BET chief Debra Lee, Buffy Cafritz, Nini Ferguson, Debbie Dingell, Heather Podesta, Meryl Chertoff, Cindy Jones, Mai Abdo, Ann Walker Marchant, Nicki Kalokerinos, Andrea Rodgers, newly married Jayne Sandman, Becky Lee, Ellen Chube, TV anchors Lindsay Czarniak and Angie Goff, Kiki Ryan, Julian Epstein, Ernie and Debbi Jarvis, GEICO VP Rynthia Rost, Holidae Hayes, Jacqui Watson, and Rebecca Fishman Harris. DC Chief of Police, Cathy Lanier was there, sidearm on the ready, as well as the mayor’s mother, Jan Fenty.
photo © Tony Powell
My good friend and DJ Seyhan Duru worked his usual magic at the mixing table while 3 top models took turns strutting their stuff up on a platform in the latest fashions from New York. There was even a 3-chair makeup station sponsored by cosmetics giant Shiseido, where ladies could have their makeup touched up throughout the evening. The best finger foods I’ve seen in a while (crab cakes, mounds of sushi, and mini chocolate cakes) were being passed around all night and adding to the frenetic atmosphere? News crews, and the clamoring of people trying to get their picture taken with Michelle and the Mayor.
photo © Tony Powell
