ON SEEING, A Journal. #464

GROWING UP: Colton Reid Wasniak

February 1, 2022

7 and 24 years

I have studied over 200 children from childhood into their 20’s.  I began with some when their mothers were pregnant, as was the case with Colton’s mother, Amber.  I made annual studio portraits and asked them to write answers to a series of questions, a kind of diary about their lives, their feelings, their hopes, their regrets.

I am interested in everything about human development. I am fascinated by maturation, growth, emotional, educational and physical development.  My exploration, a major 30 year odyssey, has been an adventure that has yielded riches beyond my imagining.

I very much enjoyed seeing Colton and his mother, Amber, each time we returned to San Francisco to continue the “Growing Up” project I had started in 1990.

Amber Wasniak, 3 days before birth

7 days old

1 year old

7 years old

9 years old

10 years old

11 years old

12 years old

13 years old

14 years old

16 years

17 years

Amber remarried, and Colton was to become a big brother to two new siblings.

19 years

24 years old

Thank-you Colton (and Amber).
It’s been a gift to have you both in this project.

Let’s try to gather once more in a few years;
we’ll let you know the next time we travel West.