wistful

 
He’s the perfect example of why I’m not the best group portrait photographer around. All the while as I was photographing the family together it was evident that this little boy was most uncomfortable in front of the camera. No matter how I tried to gently coax him to relax into things, the expressions he offered continued to convey his unease. His parents urged me not to worry about this, suggesting that he simply didn’t photograph well. Which of course isn’t true about anyone, and quickly prompted me to pull him from the group and work with him one on one.

He’s a beautiful boy whose great discomfort in front of a stranger with camera completely disguised this fact. I knew that I was risking running out of late afternoon daylight for continuing the family portion of the shoot by pulling him away like this, but I couldn’t stop myself. More than anything I wanted him to sense how much my camera and I adored his little being, and this became my quest. This didn’t come about quickly nor easily, and required my brushing other family members away on several occasions as I continued attempting to gain his trust.

Slowly, he let me in, and we began a series of images together where he revealed a variety of expressions that to me told a complex and captivating story of who he is at this stage of his life. It is in these kinds of moments when I understand without a doubt, that I am doing the thing I was born to do. I put my camera down on my lap, looked into his big brown eyes and said with heartfelt sincerity, “thank you”.

It was then that I suddenly realized we were out of the daylight required to continue on with the family shoot. Oops!

 
~Cynthia