B O Y H O O D
“Boyhood” is a documentation of young brothers in Savannah, Georgia, photographed between March and May 2019. The original idea for this series came from my wanting to make photographs with subject matter that I hadn't explored as thoroughly as I had done with past projects. After working on a project focusing on femininity and womanhood, I decided it was time to tell a different kind of story.
I felt an urge to photograph someone who has a completely different look on life than I do. Someone whose story is polar opposite to mine. That is what led me to look into photographing the male perspective. What made me pick young boys specifically was their authenticity. Not one of them “put on a show” for the camera. They were simply playing outside with me standing nearby. I don’t think I could have caught that same reality with an older subject matter even if I tried.
My main objective was to showcase the wild, chaotic freedom that exists between adolescent brothers, while also catching the still, quiet moments that come along every so often. Each set of brothers brought something special to the table, and I discovered a new love for the tenderness that young boys possess but don't necessarily show outwardly. I photographed brothers from the age of two to fourteen and one thing remained true - the obvious desire for fun and the seldom moments of solitude. There were moments of soccer, screaming, and wrestling but also moments of picking flowers, asking for kisses on cut fingers, and older brothers guiding their younger “comrades” each step of the way.
Each of the boys in this story were able to showcase different feelings of nostalgia while reminding me of the present. I never would have thought I could learn so much from a few sets of brothers living their daily lives, but I came out on the other side of this project with a completely different perspective.
Young boys are sensitive, full of intuition, and see the world as an opportunity for adventure - something we all could remember.