Portraits of teens

In three months, I’ll be 20. My dad says things will “change” when I’m 20, but I don’t think I’ll be different. I won’t be a teenager anymore. I guess that’s different.

My assignment was to photograph teenagers—to show teenage life: what we’re like, what we do, when and where we do it.

It seemed like a simple enough assignment. I’m 19; my associate, Jenn Sande, is 17. All we had to do was photograph our peers, but with each photo, each trip to the mall or skate park, we realized we could never show the diversity of teens in this way or in this story.

For every person I photographed, every moment I captured and every story I was told, I felt I needed 10 more.

This essay is incomplete; it’s one take on teens.

For me, it’s just a start. As I enter adulthood, I’m realizing I’m becoming more interested in how the past seven years affected me. I plan on photographing this subject again. I want to go back to Burgess Park—I want to spend more time with each person. I want to show the stories of these teens.

David Calvert is a sophomore journalism major at UNR. He edits The Artemisia, a documentary photography magazine (see this week’s news brief, Reinventing Artemisia), and is president of Photojournalism@Nevada. To see more of his work, visit www.photojournalismatnevada.com.

Jennifer Sande is a senior at Reno High School. She edits the school newspaper, The Red & Blue, and plans to attend college in the fall, where she will pursue a career in art and photography.