Photograph for CASA's "Through the Lens" Event

A couple of week's ago, I posted about an exhibition I was involved with through Alabama CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates) (here), at which the exhibits,which portrayed individual's stories, would take the attendees on a "A Journey through Foster Care". I was assigned the story of a young adult who had aged out of the foster care system.

Once foster children reach the age of majority, they can no long be in foster care. Upon reading my charge's story,  I recognized the solitude that must envelop those who are in foster care and eventually must age out. With natural families who have either deserted them or been found unfit or otherwise wanting, these young people are compelled to face both life's challenges, joys, and sorrows without either a proper foundation or support system. 

Capturing that experience in a photograph seemed a daunting task, and after having made a number of attempts that I deemed unsuccessful, I finally settled on depicting the foster mother walking away. There is nothing sinister or malicious in her actions; her abandonment is not something that can be helped. It is merely a consequence of the broken state of things. 

A special thanks to Tyler Dooley, proprietor of Farmhouse Fabrications, for serving as my model and his willingness to stand in for many of the failed efforts involved in this project.