Documentary Project - Angels

The seed of these pictures was planted in Mexico, when a small boy, startled me with a still gaze. He stood like a wall in front of me and said, "Who are you and what do you want?". After several uncomfortable moments of averting his gaze, I gave him some answer that satisfied neither of us.

Later, with more miles and maturity under my belt, I began to understand that the boy merely reflected my angst back to me and that when we meet someone, we ask the same questions: "Who are you and what do you want?" Until those questions are answered, no relationship is possible. We also ask ourselves these same questions throughout our lives at various stages and at varying degrees, and no one reaches real maturity without asking those questions.

I recognized the same unaffected gaze on a trip into the mountains of Oaxaca, Mexico, where we flew into a remote landing strip and walked for two hours to arrive at the village of Santa Cruz.

I had no idea what to expect or if I would make any pictures at all. It was an adventure with my friend Lorenzo who was hired to photograph an event there. It just so happened that I wandered into a first communion ceremony nearby, and I was stunned by the beauty of the girls dressed as angels.

I was anxious the girls would run away if I raised my camera but they just stared at me as if I was a strange bird. I kept shooting and thinking they would find me invasive and hide, but they did not, and I kept making pictures.

The experience was magical because they gazed at me with an unblemished authenticity that I was not used to. I knew I had something but was anxious it would vanish each time I made a picture. It did not, and I felt I was gifted something miraculous.

The sense that the experience was ephemeral and miraculous is what has kept me doing personal fine art photography throughout my career, and it is as close as I have ever been to witnessing miracles.