When my friend Brian called me to tell me that "there's this boy I would want to shoot" I was beyond curious.
He had just landed the cover of Anthem magazine shortly after signing with IMG New York and was in town after an "accident" in Las Vegas 2 days prior to said phone call.
Some drunk guy had randomly called him a "faggot" on Las Vegas Blvd as he was on his way home.
Next thing he knew was waking up in the hospital, covered in blood, several front teeth missing.
Random act of violence.
IMG took him off the board immediately and he was quite ashamed of his appearance.
Of course I called his agent to get approval to photograph him as it's standard protocol with agency models.
I was a bit surprised that his agency didn't seem to care much for the fact that a photographer in Los Angeles wants to shoot with him, they even made sure that I was aware that he looked "pretty busted up" right now.
Nice.
Taking his photograph, missing teeth exposed, gave me a feeling mixed with voyeurism, guilt and shame for this ugly world.
Now I am glad that I wasn't afraid to take his picture.
His teeth may be fixed now but his memory of it surely will remain.
You and I, we may look the same,
But we are very far apart
There's bullet holes where my compassion used to be
And there is violence in my heartNine Inch Nails , My Violent Heart
