When I received this following nomination I just knew there was absolutely no way that I would not photograph this individual and I learned tonight that he is "really really psyched" to have been chosen. Here is the nomination I received from Stacey Lara-Kerr:
"Until this August, I worked as a public defender in Seattle, working primarily with at risk youth. Josh Arsenaux was on my caseload for nearly a year, always for failing go to school. The first time I met Josh, I knew he was special, but because he was very guarded, it took many meetings for me to learn exactly how one-of-a-kind he was.
When he came to court, we had amazing conversations about politics, the arts, his dreams, and occassionally, his difficult past.
When I went on maternity leave last February, Josh was still attending school only sporadically. When I next heard from Josh, he was going to school, looking healthy, talking about being a lawyer. I have since become a mentor to Josh, and I cannot being to say how impressed I am with him. It's still up in the air whether he will graduate on time, but the fact that he is accumulating credits and attending class regularly is amazing. His entire outlook is changed. He recently applied and was accepted into a King County Bar Association scholarship program encouraging teenagers of color to pursue a career in the law. I have been told that he has done well in the program, and he has said that he is further inspired to pursue a career in the law.
I would love for Josh to have great pictures of himself. For so many teenagers, senior portraits are a given. I feel confident that Josh has never had the opportunity to see himself as the handsome, maturing young man that he is. I know that his grandmother would love to have pictures of the child she took over in raising. This is a young man that I think will go somewhere. I want him to have a picture from the time in his life when he turned it all around."
I just cannot wait to meet Josh and hopefully give him and his grandmother pictures that they can enjoy forever.
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