Best of Alberta and Best in Class Award

Last year, I did a Personal Project called Fine Art Child Portrait.

I wanted to photograph children in a way that they might never have been photographed before.  I took inspiration both from famous painters like Vermeer and Rembrandt as well as from the children themselves.

As part of the preparation for the session with this young boy, I asked his mom about his interests and if there were any personal items I could include.  That's when she told me the story of his typewriter and the concept for this portrait started to take form.

Every mother wants to fulfill her child's wishes for Christmas, but while some kids ask for the latest video game or easy-to-source sports equipment, this guy had a more challenging request:  a typewriter.

It's not like she couldn't find one, but there weren't any that fit their budget (hello, the life of a family with 3 kids!).  So, she found herself in line at Costco buying him a microscope instead.

A friendly man behind her struck up a conversation about the gift. She explained how she feared the microscope would be a disappointment as it was NOT the #1 item on her son’s list.

Serendipitously, this man had an electronic typewriter that he hadn’t used in a long time. His wife would love to see it go!

Out of the kindness of his heart, he gifted this old typewriter to the young boy’s mom on Christmas eve – just in time!

The other items on the desk are also representative and meaningful.  Overall, the image is a true representation of who this boy is - at this stage of his life.

Who knows if he'll pursue writing, or drawing, or something completely different when he grows up.  But, he is showing signs of being a Future Writer, hence the title of this portrait.