I Found Someone's Nudes in CVS
A Mundane Errand Turns Spicy
It was a typical sunny-ish winter day in Los Angeles (okay, The Valley) when I went to CVS to pick up some photos. I was picking up some prints to send as a gift, along with a frame.
Upon arrival at this particular CVS, I was upset when I discovered there was no “pick up photo” section, but I had to print them myself at a kiosk instead. I was mad because I uploaded them online and sent them in to print. Where the hell did they go then? Whatever.
After a few minutes of wifi connection errors, I finally connected to the kiosk and printed the photos. The photos did not come out of the kiosk I uploaded at but were a few steps over at the printing machine. Is there a better word for that? I added “machine” because it by no means looked like a regular printer…And it was in a very disheveled corner. It was giving messy basement vibes, except this was in public and at a very popular CVS.
As I went to the printer and waited for my photos to come out, I noticed a rather large pile of photos in the printer tray. Seemingly, dozens of people left their photos there. Why? Did they not notice the dusty printing machine a few steps over and the images didn’t come out of the kiosk? I pulled them out because I was curious about what people left behind.
Upon grabbing the stack, the first photo was an up-close selfie of a woman lying in bed with her head propped up on her hand and her cleavage pushed up by a little bustier. I thought to myself: what?! And, surely, she would want this. I flipped to the next photo, and it revealed the full bustier panties ensemble. It was a body shot, no face. Oh my gosh. I stumbled upon a dirty little pile of photos *smirk emoji*. How retro.
Sometimes, I wonder about people “back in the day” sending each other nudes physically instead of texting them. How exciting. What build up. What a little treat. You spent money on film and paid to develop them, and you can keep it in your sexy little photo album. There is care and thought that goes into that. And you really had to think about your best angles because you can’t see it before it’s developed.
Additionally, this always makes me think about how the person developing the photos gets a peek at the personal lives of people. As a film photographer hobbyist, I actually think about that a lot…at this moment, I felt like the developer.
These photos were clearly taken on a disposable camera or perhaps a point-and-shoot, they didn’t look like phone photos. Everything here felt old. Maybe these were left over from when there used to be a proper photo-developing section and not this grimy little digital kiosk corner. Whatever, who cares, I couldn’t believe I found someone’s lingerie photos in CVS.
I kept flipping because this was a large stack of photos and this felt like tea. It was some random lady’s tea, but it was tea regardless. What else is in here?! I was not turned on, I just simply needed to know the rest of the story in these photos.
This was a full boudoir home photo shoot. The same woman had different lingerie outfits of the same vibe but different colors and several photos at the same angle. Before you get too excited, I should mention the lingerie and outfits in question were of the…standard mall variety. Not some glamorous “Hollywood” type shoot or even a hot influencer-type shoot. This was a CVS photo, after all. This isn’t to drag her, but just to give you more context. I’m not knockin’ it. This woman is living. There was also a pink wig look with some silver cowboy boots. She’s versatile.
Things got interesting when I saw photos of her in some boho-meets-horse-lady outfits, posing on a tree. I’m talking feather earrings, flowy feather shirts, chunky necklaces, and belts with turquoise jewels.
I was flipping through these fast, but they made an impact. I felt like I was going to get caught doing something I shouldn’t be doing. My boyfriend couldn’t believe I looked through them all. I don’t know why, I just needed to see it. I was being nosy, I guess. But hey, these were left here! Aren’t photos meant to be looked upon? What is a photo if it is not seen?
I started wondering about this lady. Who is she? Maybe she’s a middle-aged woman who lives on a ranch in The Valley and is trying to spice up her dying marriage. Her husband tends to the horses more than her, and she’s sick of it. “Remember when we used to be happy? We’d make love in the stables, but ever since Tommy died, you won’t even look at me!”
Or maybe she’s a woman with a girlfriend in prison, and she wanted to mail her some photos to enjoy. They started as pen pals, but they connected intimately over their love of craftsmanship. She makes jewelry, and her girlfriend makes furniture. She had a handful of pen pals she’d write to, but these two became exclusive, and she dropped the others. She plans to visit soon and is giving her partner something to look forward to in the meantime.
Or it’s neither of those. But wasn’t that fun to pretend? I’m not sure why these got left behind. Maybe they were outtakes she scrapped and left for someone to find as a treat.
She wasn’t the only person in the pile of photos. I also saw some photos of people recording a podcast. I looked it up and it’s actually quite popular. It was BTS photos of Territory Marks, a wrestling podcast. Anyone a fan of them? Boys, you left your photos in CVS!
There was also a photo of a man typing on a laptop, looking up and away from the camera. He looks as if he’s thinking up an idea to type. Or it seems like that’s supposed to be the vibe of the photo because it looks quite staged to me. I’m not sure if this photo is a part of the podcast photos, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it was because he fits their aesthetic.
Other photos of note were a couple together, a cut-off “uncaged” promo photo of a fight, something that looks like a movie still (it’s a closeup of someone up against a wall with a breathing tube in their nose and they look like if they’ve seen a ghost. My God I hope that’s from a movie and not real), and a photo of a Wendy’s sign but instead of “Wendy’s” it says “Zombies” and has a zombified Wendy on it.
I finally put the photos back where they came from and made sure to grab the ones I actually printed. No one came near the area or saw what I witnessed. I left and did not look back. What a weird little excursion I had that day.
What started out as an errand I slightly begrudged (because I had to leave my house) turned into something quite entertaining. You never know what mess you can find in the sloppy corner at your local CVS…sometimes mundane trips lead to fun stories. This is my reminder that inspiration comes when you leave the house. Also, prints are fun. Go print some photos ya little freaks!
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Paige Elson
This is so wild hahaha I hope she’s okay, wherever she is!!! 🐎