The Very Young, The Very Old

I have discovered over years of making formal street portraits that, quite typically, the very young and the very young present themselves similarly to the camera: with obvious unselfconscious confidence. This generalization seems to hold up everywhere.

In Oaxaca, Mexico last week, for example, these are the portraits of five year-old, Luz, and eighty year-old MaElena. Each fills the frame with "presence." Each exudes a self-assurance that neither adolescents nor mature adults can match.

Luz

MaElena