Boy and Dove

This is one of those "nothing" photos that I've always been partial to for all of the thirty plus years since I shot it. I like the juxtaposition of the boy and the dove, the relationship of them to the timbers of the cage. the white bird is against the shadowed side of the wood while the boy's dark hair and shirt contrast with the light colored wall. Everything just sort of falls into place. The dove looks bored, totally ignoring the two of us, and the boy looks a bit too serious, like he's concerned about something. I love the range of tones in the photo. This was the kind of assignment I used to hate. "Wild art" was what the editor, Jim Kukar, called it. Sort of human interest to fill space in the paper on a slow news day. Somebody had called the paper to tell of this neighborhood kid who was raising doves, and she thought it would make for an interesting story. I went over there and the kid was really into his birds, told me all about them, and I shot maybe an entire roll. This was the one everybody agreed was the best.