An aspiring make-up artist from Bethlehem, New York has created quite possibly one of the most iconic high school yearbook photos of all time, and as a result become a viral sensation.
17-year-old James Charles was disappointed when his first round of senior yearbook photos came back.
Charles told BuzzFeed that the “lighting was not ideal for my makeup so all my hard work at 7am didn’t pay off.”
To fix the problem, Charles orchestrated a re-shoot. And the results were pretty spectacular.
So I retook my senior photos & brought my ring light with me so my highlight would be poppin. I love being extra 💀 pic.twitter.com/7Qu1yu8U2P
— James Charles (@jamescharles) September 5, 2016
Apparently, the big difference was the use of a ring light, which he set up on a tripod while the yearbook photo company shot the portrait.
[Charles] said he wouldn’t normally go the extra mile like this but “it was my senior picture and I knew it would be in the yearbook forever”.
Charles said: “I do love being extra. I’m actually a pretty reserved person, I promise. When I say I’m extra it usually just comes to my makeup looks being extravagant, and I’m also never afraid to drag a local boy when he’s being rude on Twitter.”
Charles said he wanted to make sure his yearbook picture was “iconic”. His friend Delaney went along with him to the second shoot. Typically students get a chance to take a picture with their pals and, of course, Charles put his own spin on this as he and Delaney posed for his “mugshot”.
Of the response his photo has received online, Charles said,
“I knew it would do pretty well on my Instagram page because my followers were really excited when I posted selfies from the morning of the original picture day, but I DID NOT expect the tweet and Insta pic to blow up this much.”
Among Charles’ fans? Actress and singer Zendaya.
You win😍🙌🏽 https://t.co/c0qKrhApsq
— Zendaya (@Zendaya) September 6, 2016
And for those who don’t know what a ring light is (like me, prior to writing this post), watch this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7dnXfIo1AHM
