Let me start by saying that this is not your average senior photo shoot.
This is my little brother in the place he is the most himself.
When my entire family got together to celebrate our heritage at a reunion in Arizona, David asked me to take some photographs of him since he’s graduating high school in June. Over the three days that we spent as a group of 50+ cousins, siblings, parents, and grandparents, I shot a lot of personal work as well as his portraits. Last summer I shot a ton of personal stuff in Kent, WA where my mom grew up. This time we were with my dad’s side of the family in the Mountain West, where my grandfathers have been cattle ranchers and farmers for generations. My brother David has been working here as a ranch hand since he was about nine years old. As a child, I came here and learned how to ride a horse, shoot a gun, french braid, cook a s’more, play music, appreciate family photographs and relics, take care of people, and worship the Lord. I learned the importance of being quiet and listening—to the silence and noise of nature, to my grandfather’s stories and advice, to my grandmother’s music and snappy one-liners.
I feel like I have to share these portraits of my brother along with the shots of my family and our heritage, because I am a fierce promoter of good context in photographs. Along with the portraits of David there are portraits of my aunt, the person who taught me not to be afraid of getting closer when I’m shooting a portrait and not to apologize for the way I see things. There are portraits of the space inside the house. There are portraits of the windmills. There are portraits of the little kids, who remind me so much of how I was when I was their age, and how David was not so long ago. This is a portrait series of a place that has not changed much for decades and likely will not change much in my lifetime. In a way, these are portraits of myself, too. You’ll see, in these photographs, a real nice kid named after his grandpa who understands that the world is a lot bigger than he is, whom I have no doubt will change it in his own good, quiet way.
David, age 18, Arizona.
Portra 400, Bronica SQA
