how not to tell a photographer he’s valued

i was the sole photographer at a fashion boutique’s little charity runway event last week. photographed the entire proceeding, everything went great. maybe 5 minutes before wrapping, a model asked to be photographed with a stylist friend. i obliged, and moved a light stand just out of the way.

the stand must have tapped the lcd screen on the back of my camera in just the right way so as to not crack the glass but still render the screen useless. white screen with bars.. i say to the pair, “ah shit, i think my camera just broke.”

the immediate response, “oh no! can you use my phone?”

fortunately, this all happened at the end of the event and the files werent damaged, but maaaan..

editing for context, this wasnt a guest of the event, nor the client, just one of the models who had already been photographed by me 300+ times that evening. it wasnt her simply wanting to capture a moment with a friend, it was her getting as many shots out of me over the course of the night. this is all fine, but when the camera is visibly broken and understood to be broken, her immediately sourcing her phone to continue capturing her as the solution with not a glimmer of care…?