2010 Oregon PPO Print Competition Awards Winner of The People's Choice Award - Ed Rohler Trophy, Fuji Masterpiece Award - Illustrative Division, Esther Munk Trophy - Unclassified Division
Best Black & White Award, Best Photojournalism Image

This image came together
during a short afternoon session that
had minimal direction at the start.
I had a few ideas of a conceptual / illustrative image of some kind.
I knew I wanted to photograph Kimberly, but as she was not home when I arrived, I asked Jesse to "dress for the occasion". Once I had them together different concepts fell into place, trying some variations in mood as I shot, repositioning the subjects as I went. I started to feel a hidden tension between Kim & Jesse and moved to bring that out in their placement and attitude, creating what I called the "Continental Divide"; an initial title for the finished piece. Adding little Abe Joe in turned out to be the winning idea, as this created another being to "fall into" the distance I'd created between the two main subjects. Once found, he was also a certain focus of the judge's panel. The final title; "Daddy, Please Don't Go"; brought an undeniable attention to the child caught in between. It was the highest scoring print I've ever had in competition. Afterwards, one of the judges gave me a great compliment when he told me "We missed it on this one; we all felt later that we should have
scored it much higher."