Mame Du Bois, Shy Boy (PEOPLE 2023)

Black and white portrait of carpenter's apprentice Zac. Naturally very shy, Zac was originally meant to be looking straight at the camera; However, when Zac saw the focus assist light on my camera come on, he looked down in anticipation of the coming photo. This was the moment I captured. The photo shoot came about in memory of our mutual friend and photographer 19 year-old Kai Ogden who took his own life in July 2022. Kai was a brilliant young photographer who encouraged me to start taking protraits. Because of Kai, I fell in love with portraiture. He gifted me a whole new language for connecting with the world around me. This has given my photography purpose, far beyond just taking pretty pictures. That is something I will always be thankful to him for. Something that I will carry with me for the rest of my life.

Images have been resized for web display, which may cause some loss of image quality. Note: Original high-resolution images are used for judging.