Theo L. I’m going to just come out and say it: I love this photograph. It’s simple and yet evocative. I love the red wagon, I love the subtle backdrop placement, and I love his pose. We’ve done a lot of media for this project in a week and one of the things that keeps coming up is “how do you pose the kids?” When you’re doing portraiture the way I’m doing it, the photographer has to be “in charge” to a certain extent. I have an idea of what I want the minute I roll up to your house. But then there’s a subtle negotiation that takes place between photographer and subject, and this simple portrait is the result. We spent most of the sitting talking about food. Theo’s family owns some popular restaurants on Capitol Hill. And Theo is apparently a good cook. He’s been making eclairs to bide time, which sound amazing, but when we started talking about cassoulet, one of my favorite meals, I started getting hungry. Anyway, I asked Theo for some of his thoughts about his Yorktown experience: “I feel like my high school experience really started once I joined crew in my freshman year. I continued through sophomore year. Started baking soon after that and got into fashion and thrifting my junior year. This was the year I also started selling used clothing on the side as a means of earning a little extra money. I struggled to stay active through junior year along with my closest friend, Rowan. This lead to us joining our local gym. Over the summer I pretty much spent my free time there. This continued during the school year. Once the pandemic hit, I felt a sense of loss, but quickly recovered by keeping active.” Good luck, Theo, as you study engineering at George Mason University in the Fall.
