Kendall Jenner: I’m the most private person in my family

They’ve largely had a long and fulfilling romance. Kendall Jenner and the camera. Each partner wholly accepting of the other. It has been her constant companion for years now. It was there, in her living room, capturing her moves as she, an 11-year-old then, went about her day.
Cut to the present. The flashbulbs go into a tizzy every time she steps out. Every picture accentuating the contours of her face.Or playing up her lithe, 5-feet-10-inch frame. Every picture chronicling her continuous rise as one of the biggest supermodels and arguably, the most influential social-media celebrity of our times.
And now, her relationship with the camera has taken a new turn – instead of facing it, the supermodel has taken her place behind the lens, pursuing a career as a photographer. That is not to say she has quit modelling. No, she is very much there – strutting down the runways, signing endorsement deals, launching her eyeshadow palette and well, just making the world a much more glamorous place.

In a rather quick telephonic chat, Kendall spoke to TOI Entertainment about her steady rise as a supermodel, her love for photography and much more. A muse to many a photographer and the face of a cosmetic giant, she has just been signed on by a soft drink company for their new campaign. “It’s a dream come true for me to be working on the film. The idea of ‘Living in the now’ is something I believe in,” she says with childlike enthusiasm.

Her turn as a professional photographer came as a surprise to everyone but her. “I have been in love with photography pretty much my whole life. I was in a photography school during my high school where I did a course in it,” she candidly says.

It’s one thing to capture your everyday moments and put them on social media but quite another to handle the cover shoot of a leading magazine. Most of us, or at least her followers on Instagram, know that she is an indisputable expert at the former. How was the reaction to the latter?
“Everyone has really loved it. I have gotten great feedback. A lot of people I have been working with in the industry actually came to me and said that they were shocked when they saw my photography. I was thrilled to hear that because it means something. These are people who have seen many photographers come and go, so they know what they are talking about,” she says.
Given that she has always been in the media glare, one may believe that her decision to go behind the lens is prompted by her need to stay away from the public eye, even if it may be only for a while. She considers this for a moment before flicking off the idea, saying, “Ever since I was 10, I was shooting. My mom would buy me new cameras and I would be at it, capturing things around me, all the time. To actually pursue professionally field is really cool.”

The second youngest member of a family that has had their lives play out in front of the entire American population courtesy the hugely popular show ‘Keeping Up With The Kardashians’, Kendall has had every moment – from the mundane to the life-changing – documented on film. Does she ever miss the solace of enjoying a private moment without cameras prying around her?
“Of course! Anyone who knows me, knows that I love being as private as possible. I am probably the most private person in my family,” she says, half-aware that her admission goes against the family’s biggest strength. “I treasure my private moments because I have always believed that the private stuff is the most powerful stuff,” she adds.

Her need for privacy is in stark contrast to the social media-friendly image that she carries. Skim through her Insta page and you’ll see that the 21-year-old knows how to work social media. With 77.7 million and counting, she has followers on the platform that rival the population of many a country. While Kendall agrees that social media is a great platform for celebrities, she believes that it can “destroy you too”.
“It is definitely helpful for a celebrity – they can get their word out there. But sometimes, you can put something out there that can totally destroy you. As a celebrity, you ought to be careful,” she philosophises and for a brief moment, you see a person who has seen too much too soon.
And the very next moment it’s gone as the supermodel in her rises to the fore again. Only a few years old in the industry, Kendall’s rise has been meteoric, even surpassing the popularity of her elder half-sister Kim Kardashian. The runway favourite agrees that Kim has been influential in shaping up her career. “Kim is very dedicated. She has definitely made a lot for herself – be it business-wise or family. That is something I definitely look up to – the way she has put it all together and made everything work.”