Oliver is growing before my eyes, and I am rushing to shoot this project with him before he sheds all vestiges of childhood. It has been a pleasure to shoot this with him—he is a really good model. He is willing to humor me and to inhabit the scenes and vignettes with grace.
We also laugh a lot because some of it is so silly. The idea for this series came from The Alchemist, an allegorical book by Paulo Coelho about the journey of a shepherd boy. Oliver recommended it to me and then I read it too—we both really liked it. Initially the plan was a series of four images charting the boy’s journey and epiphanies, but it has become bigger than that. My guess is that this series may never be Great, but it will likely be interesting. It is a collaboration, and one of the more challenging things I’ve attempted as an artist, so I will keep at it.