Missed the Missed Opportunity

This semester was quite trying and frustrating as the idea of missing an opportunity reared its head on multiple occasions, each one finding a way to become even more heartbreaking. Originally, my missed opportunity was going to be about how I wanted to photograph roadkill and capture the gruesome elegance of within nature, yet I ended up at the last minute going back home to find and photograph roadkill. The project would have been interesting and provocative if it weren't for my misplacement of the box containing all my prints and negatives one night after working in the darkroom and finishing a late shift at work.

While I still consider this to be a missed opportunity, there is another moment from shooting my final project that I missed which always gets me thinking "what if?". Upon exiting the train station and walking to Citizen's Bank Park in Philadelphia, there was a young boy and his father walking up the steps of the subway station to get above ground. The child was full of excitement and energy and he as he ran up the steps, his dad started to "race" him up, and the simple fun the two were having because of baseball was something I wanted to get on film. I got mixed up with getting the right focus, and just as I had focused it, the moment had passed and they had finished climbing the stairs. This image would have been even more poignant when placed next to the image of my friend, John Piazza, holding up the beer in a semi-salute to his recently deceased father.