America's silence through the eyes of a teen

skunkboy

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This was just after his own friends who he was with on vacation had cut him down for having an old beat up skateboard. If I could've afforded to buy him a new one at the time, I would've in a heart beat. The rest had rich parents while his mom was struggling just to get by. His friends offer to pay his way so he can travel but then often it backfires with cruelty for not being a lucky as they are.

This is one of those photos I sometimes regret having taken but it speaks truth. It's one that I look back at when I too am down and remind myself of just how much of a difference I made at the time to him when I then offered to go do things with him after everybody else had left him dry.

camera: Kodak DC 290
 
I had promised him a new board but he lost internet access and quite understandable, I hadn't gotten his physical address. He came up twice each summer for a few years and my always being there shooting pictures is how we knew eachother. I had his e-mail but it was tied to his internet access and when that went, so did my connection. I still have the laptop battery he signed for me (simply becuase I didn't have anything else but then it was funny... something so "overlooked" but he felt special because nobody else got to sign my laptop). The laptop has since been replaced and is gone but I still have that battery signed the same day this photo was taken.
 
The look speaks volumes. Maybe it's my lack of glasses or poor monitor but I wish it was in sharper focus and less of the top of the head was cut off. Pictures like these that aren't or don't appear staged are rare.
 
I'm starting to wonder if this was with my DC290 or the cheap one I bought after my 290 locked up from the sand from Lake Michigan (across the parking lot from the skate park). I didn't have time to clean it out right then and there but I had $130 to blow on a camera real quick... I know the 290 can take better quality that this and I don't think I would've modified this pic that much (cutting quality and size) because I didn't post it in my site on his page.
 
I like the lack of perfect focus. It reflects the context of the photo, as so many things in this person's life seemed poorly defined. To him. There's just enough sharpness (on the sleeve) to keep the photo from simply looking blurry.

The lighting works in it's favor as well. Enough light on the subject to show him well, and the eye is drawn there, partly due to the background being so overexposed and jumbled. Except for the geometric shapes , which both mirror the head angle, and point to the subject.

The tilt of the camera also helps, as the result looks like the subjects body is normal position, with a dejected head tilt, also looking normal. The background seems tilted as in being a world out of skew. A person could have worked a long time trying to stage a photo like this, but not pulled it off as well. It could have been a lucky shot, but often that is what good photography is. A lucky shot, and the ability to recognize it when you see the photo, instead of tossing it out with a "That's not what I intended, it's not technically perfect". This one's a keeper.

Later on in life this kid will realize what the emotional support he received from those that actually cared about him is what really matters, more than the ribbings from his "friends". I bet the good memories of you will be what he treasures, and the memories of his friends he will let fade.
 
I find this shot almost hypnotic. If I didn't know the story behind it - I would want to.

I can't comment on the technical merits of your picture beccause I don't know enough about all that yet - but I know I like it.

And he's a lovely looking lad too. Will break a few hearts in years to come I imagine.
 

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