This photograph is the melding of strength and sorrow. Making clear the tension between youth and history in today’s modern age. My series Historical Fiction was about making images that go beyond me and beyond the photograph, images that make a statement. Six years ago I took an image entitled “Lynching” of a black man hanging a kkk member. At the time I had no idea how impactful the image would be. Six years later we seem to be in the very same place with a new generation of eyes watching and longing for change. “The kid” was shot in the exact same location as the “Lynching” photograph. Both capturing the same feel though taken years apart they seemingly go together as a diptyque separated only by time. This is an important piece to me as we are called to reconnect to our humanity we must all connect to our innocence and find the kid inside of ourselves. Revisiting this world in our current times was painful and beautiful all at once just like the photograph. “The kid” was beautifully played by Malik and I want to thank him and his family for trusting in my image and exhibiting such strength and vulnerability.