Roll #64: Puerto Rico

I was quite happy to get these images back from the lab.  Looking through the archives, I guess I never blogged any of the images from this particular shoot.  I'm so excited, this series is now complete!

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James was fifteen when I met him and like any other fifteen-year-old boy, life basically consisted of the simple staples: sports, socializing, and school.  During the week, the Evangelical School for the Deaf, located in Luquillo, Puerto Rico, was the place James called home.  It was at ESD, over a period of a few weeks, that I was able to get to know James.  The language barrier was quite difficult to overcome.  While James was very patient with me, remembering the few signs that I had learned in the previous months was a slow and painful process.  But eventually--through much pointing, writing, drawing, and gesturing, we made notable progress. 

Roles reversed.

Toward the end of my month-long stay in Puerto Rico, we were able to visit Loiza, where James lived on the weekends with his aunt and extended family.  Loiza, being one of the most dangerous places on the island, was a rough place to grow up.  James recalled stories of his family frantically pulling him to the ground in response to the sound of gunshots, and walking past a dead body on his way to the public basketball courts.  All things considered, James fared just fine.  While none of his family members and friends could communicate with him fluently, James found fulfillment in connecting with others on the neighborhood courts.  Basketball was James' one-way ticket past that language barrier.

James currently lives in the Midwest and is attending an academy for the deaf. 

Special thanks to the Evangelical School for the Deaf and to James, for allowing me to be a part of their world for a month.  It was an amazing experience.