homecoming

Every year homecoming season comes and goes and with it I usually get a slew of images that are hard to explain. They are hard to explain just as teenagers are often hard to explain. High school being what it is and filled with teenagers that are all trying to figure out who they are, what they stand for, what is right and wrong with the world around them, what these things are that are known as the opposite sex (and how to communicate with the strange beings), what they want to be when they grow up, and how to go about accomplishing all these things and still remember the periodic symbol of silver for the test next week. I think the images below capture all things homecoming, and simultaneously all things high school and all things youth.

pigskin

Another from my little personal stash of photos I take while working just to keep my mind off the fact that I'm working... Taken during a homecoming game with Fuji 800 speed film using nothing but natural light and a steady hand. I like artsy photographs that explore the empty spaces that we sometimes don't focus on. If I had a degree in art I would be able to more describe this photo using terms like "line" and "space" and "composition", but I don't. I just like it because it's cool.

friday night football

When I first moved here from Louisiana, high school football was just another extra curricular activity I had to photograph for the school newspaper. It wasn't the event that they are in Texas. So, you can understand my surprise when I covered my first high school football game for the studio I work for to find the bleachers packed, with people lining the fence line. It appeared that the whole town had turned out for the event. Well, that's exactly what they do here in Texas. Friday Night Lights and the sort. Look at Carroll. Wow. Anyway, now I know what to expect and enjoy bringing home images like these that contribute, in a way, to that Texas tradition.