What do you do when you suppose to make pictures for a young person that, for sure, needs them, but at the same time you can't.
This is what happened when I went to make pictures for Kent Carter
Last Sunday Kent and I meet to shoot. We were going to drive around the old Industrial Brooklyn and use it as our fashion shoot background. We just finished the first set nearby the Grand Street Bridge when we decided to go to another area. Packing everything back in the car, the wind suddenly blew off my light stand falling to the ground and breaking the only cold shoe I had to keep the flash in position within the soft box. No bid deal, I said. I needed to get back home to pick up another one,. I was just a few block away and we were not going to lose too much time.
We started to talk in the car, non stop. We got home and picked up the cold shoe for the flash. At that point I decided to change the area for the next shooting and I drove towards Williamsburg river front, nearby Bedford Ave. Station. We carried on talking. We arrived to the North 11th st and Berry St. where I was going to shoot the second set. At that point the conversation took a deep turn and I didn't want to stop it. I guess Kent didn't want to stop it either. It was hot outside, so I left the car engine running to continue having fresh air from the AC.
Kent is 22 and came directly from Atlanta to fulfill his dreams in the Big Apple. For more than two hours our conversation covered all the main subjects in life. We jump from what it was for him to grow in Atlanta, to what took him to come to New York. We discuss the past, the future and importantly as he said it, the present. We talked about how to keep focus on what we want, and how to achieve that focus through different means. Faith and meditation are his tools. We talked about love and the experiences we both have, he at his own age and me as a grown man. The time flew but we carried on talking. No waste of time at all.
That is the reason why the second set of pictures never happened. At the end, it was late and we both had other things to do. At the beginning I though, this is not good. I suppose to be a professional photographer doing my work for someone that needs it. However that day to me will be the day that I restore my faith in the young people. There are kids like Kent that live with a purpose. His story was deep in honesty, decency and strong will towards what it is coming. His early life wasn't easy for him. And we discuss that New York is not an easy city either. But he is clearly ready for the challenge. I hope him the best of lucks but he won't need it. He will make it well.
I am sure I am going to make the second, third and more set of pictures together. But most importantly, I hope, we going to carry on talking... and me, learning from a 22 years old man.
Gus
Ps. I guess that this blog is about photography and I forgot to mention that the pictures above are the three different versions I developed from one of the first set. More to come... watch this space!