Me & My Boys

I chose this photo from my parent's house because it is one of my absolute favorites! Pictured from left to right is my cousin Luciano (6), my oldest brother Angelo (8), me! (4), my older brother Mario (6), and my cousin, and Luciano's younger brother, Carmine (5).

Every summer our two families went on a beach vacation together to some new location, and with there being just 4 years bewteen the five of us, we were each other's buddies and best friends. It's obvious that this was a snapshot while walking on the beach in the late afternoon, as our parents failed to dress us in coordinating outfits, but rather allowed us to rock the early 90s garb. This photo was taken in the summer of '91 in Myrtle Beach. We've tried to recreate this photo now that we are older, but none of the attempts ever turn out quite as perfect as this one!

Now, from a technical point of view I would comment on the lack of contrast in the overall picture. There is a dull overcast over the whole photo, which is not simply due to the weather but perhaps improper cmpensation for the natural light, i.e. too small of an aperature or absense of a flash. This photo was obviously cut to fit a 3x3 inch frame, so I am not sure what was included in the original. I do however wish the photographer (most likely my father) did not cut us off at the ankles. With our group embrace, I think the overall composition would have been stronger if we saw the full frontal profiles of our bodies. While I am lookin at this photo with a critical eye, I am noticing other compositional elements that I never have before. For example, the pyramidal arrangement of our 5 bodies, with Angelo, being the oldest and tallest, forming the pinnacle. Luciano's body turns in from left to right closing off our tight knit group. Carmine's bent arm direct our attention back to the strong diagonal formed by Mario's head, up to Angelo who is looking back down on the two of them, reciprocating the diagonal implied line. The landscape behind the five us us also seems to mimic this pyramid, with each side tapering towards the photo edge, and rising diagonally toward the center top of the photo, which is ultimately hidden from our view. All of the lines keep the viewer focused on our five young faces.