The Art - Photography

The Last of "The Child Experiments" Photos
Digital photo with post-production
2010

On the series: These portraits were more collaborative efforts with my young son, than my simply taking pictures of him. He would prepare a situation and would ask that a picture be taken, which is how the series began. He wanted to see how what he'd dreamed up looked like through the eye of the camera, and enjoyed having it preserved--probably like most children. Then when I was working on a picture in post production I would ask him what he thought as we both conjured a photo befitting his dream.

On this photo: H.o.p., at twelve years of age, determined that he was no longer a child and "The Child Experiments" series should have this, his 2010 Halloween costume, as its last update. And I agreed with him. The majority of "The Child Experiments" photos were done between 2004 and 2007, most being in 2006. Which was why the record had diminished to being an accounting of Halloween.

H.o.p., of course, was always playing and "experimenting at" but the making of the occasional photo record had run its course by the end of 2006. Looking back, I always feel that I somehow dropped the ball, that there was far more that went on that I could have chronicled, but the endeavor was a partnership between me and H.o.p., and his interest had dissolved by 2007. With the dissolution of his interest, I didn't think much about it, as he always had multiple creative projects upon which he was working and continually talking to me about them. So, it wasn't until a long while had passed that I realized we were no longer doing the photos, that he was no longer wanting them. Instead, he was now always taking photographs and making little movies, so it seemed as if the photo record had continued, only it was wholly his own now, he taking photos of the things that were currently interesting him.

H.o.p. went again as Mr. Dark that Halloween, as he had the previous year. This time he had a more proper hat with a round brim, and he was now wearing gloves and a dark gauze mask over his fact that he felt helped simulate invisibility.

(childlasthalloween)