Joe L-C - Image from my Photo Essay

Before posting my image, I'd like to remind the class of what my photo essay is about. I'm documenting a resident in a home for disabled adults. He has a job, enjoys bowling and bocce ball, goes out for dinner, hangs out with his friends, and he loves to perform and sing on stage. Just like us, he has his emotional ups and downs, his frustrations, and his goals. My hope is to be able to document this and show people who may not be aware, that disabled individuals aren't anything to be afraid of or to make fun of. I want people to see that they are, like you and I, individualistic, unique, beautiful people, that can bring amazing amounts of joy into your life.

I know this is a pretty specific goal, but that's what I aim to do. On top of that, I hope to make this more of an "art piece." Like the documentary work of Alec Soth and other photographers I admire, I hope to use my photographic skills to create a piece of art that will make people feel something special. I guess you can say that it's non-tradiional photojournalism. I found an example of a body of work by the photographer Timothy Archibald that accomplishes what I'm talking about. I would love to create something personal and beautiful like this: http://lens.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/11/05/son-and-father-pierce-autisms-veil/

I'm honestly not sure if I'll be able to accomplish my goal of doing so. Judging by my first image, I think I'm far from what I want. In this image, I was limited by the type of lighting, which kind of ruined a lot for me and flattened the image. I shot this with a 4x5 camera and it looks like it could have been shot with 35mm, which is bothering me. I think I can still use this camera and achieve more of what I'm looking for, as long as really pay extra attention to my lighting sources.

Here's what I've got. I'm not sure if it will make it into my final edit of the essay.




Lenny at his birthday party