by
Summers filled with long hot days chasing balloons or drawing pictures on the sidewalk with chalk. Or at least they are for some. These pictures show the childhood we know, with a twist. Chasing balloons is a composite of my granddaughter playing in my backyard, and a picture I took while walking around Detroit. The bright pink balloons caught my attention, looking so out of place against the graffitied side of a building, trapped on the rusted stair. I thought of the child who may have lost those balloons, and whose backyard was a trash strewn alley.
The other picture is of a dear friend’s son, who spent many, many days playing and drawing in my backyard. And while chalk drawings on the sidewalk are a common thing in the suburbs, they would be much more out of place in the Detroit area where the background for this composite was taken. Spray painted graffiti may be it’s own form of art, but at what cost to a child’s innocence.
“Young boys should never be sent to bed. They always wake up a day old.” – J.M.Barrie –