Five-year-old Syngular Journee Brown locks eyes with her mother in a moment that seems infinite. Relaying the story of the child model’s full name – a talking piece on its own – they butt heads in a stare-off in between filling in the details.
Syngular cracks first, bursting into giggles. A smile spreads across her mother’s face. It seems as if the duo has their own private language, one with a dialogue that began months before the doe-eyed kindergartener was born.
Three months into her pregnancy, mom Patricia Chatti made the decision to name the child she was carrying Syngular Journee.
“She said if it don’t matter if it’s a boy or a girl she would still name it ‘Syngular Journee’,” chimed the five-year-old.
“When I got pregnant I didn’t know I would be sick the whole duration,” said Chatti of a pregnancy that left her so ill she had to return to The Bahamas from the U.S. after living there for 17 years.
“Because I was so sick I was like you know what… I cannot go through this again, so I said I had to come up with a name, either for a girl or a boy, that describes what I’m feeling right now.”
Months of illness during Chatti’s pregnancy turned to joy at Syngular’s birth. As the infant developed, Chatti received regular compliments about how cute her baby was. People began to suggest that she become a child model.
“I didn’t want to get her into modeling just because she’s a pretty child,” said Chatti. “I knew where it could take you and I wanted her to be a part of that decision-making process.”
Syngular’s performance during an impromptu photo shoot to commemorate her third birthday assured her mother that she was ready to model.
“His intent was to come there and take 15 shots,” said Chatti of photographer Craig Adderley. “Craig took almost 200 shots within one hour. That was, I think, the turning point to say ‘she’s into this.’”
J. C. Collie, Syngular’s sponsor and personal photographer during her quest for the Little Miss Bahamas crown, called the baby beauty “a natural” in front of the camera.
“She’s very, very photogenic.,” said Collie, adding that Syngular needed very little coaching during photo shoots. “She just grabs it and goes with it.”
The tot was discovered shortly after her third birthday photo shoot in a Jacksonville airport. The husband of an agent approached Chatti and asked if she had considered modeling for Syngular. A portfolio of professional photographs later, the three-year-old was on her way.
Managed by an agency in the U.S. and by her mother in The Bahamas, Syngular has since secured four major jobs. In 2009 she appeared in a commercial for Atlantis, a British film and one of the film’s for the Ministry of Tourism’s 14 film challenge.
Syngular has also done print ads for retail stores and other businesses.
The young beauty contestant waged a full-fledged flyer and Facebook campaign for the Little Miss Bahamas competition. Ads as ubiquitous as political posters during a general election admonished viewers that a vote for Syngular was “the only vote that counts.”
“I’ve gotten a lot of feedback from people and there’s never been a contestant in any pageant, whether it’s a Miss Bahamas Universe or the Miss Bahamas Earth, big or small, that has ever had this much publicity,” said Chatti, who owns a clothing store and has a background in marketing.
“Win, lose or draw, what I want from this experience is for her to end up being the most popular contestant ever,” she said.
How does Syngular feel about her whirlwind experience?
“I want to be in the pageant because I want to be a role model for children like me,” she said.
No comments:
Post a Comment