I have studied over 200 children from childhood into their 20’s. I began with some when their mothers were pregnant, and others, as was the case with Sam, started about the time they could read and write. For all of them 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.

This special young man, Sam Donaldson, proved to be as remarkable and authentic as any of the many young people I have had the privilege to get to know. I found that the awareness about many things about himself was quite unusual.

9 years

10 years

11 years

12 years

13 years

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17 years

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25 years

27 years