Everybody Else : Warren Harold

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Warren Harold's project Alternating Weekends was something that resonated with me the first time I saw it. I had the feeling of recognition that occurs when someone is successfully doing what I was aspiring to do : his photographs were not of his kid, they were about the relationship with his kid. How do you photograph a relationship? It can't be taught, but you know it when you see it. Viewing Alternating Weekends you see it.

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Here is his statement:

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Being a child of divorce, my first and foremost concern when my wife and I separated in the fall of 2003 was my 3 year old son. As life moved forward and the divorce was finalized, I found myself almost 60 miles away from him. I make the three hour roundtrip at least twice a week to pick him up for alternating weekends. I've since remarried, and so has his mother.

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Although completely different circumstances prevail, I can't help but compare and contrast my son's situation and environment to mine at that age. My mother was in the middle of an ugly divorce with my absentee father, and I had no male role model to speak of. My son has two. My dad would leave my brother and me alone on the intermittent weekends we would be with him. I struggle to find a balance with our time as a family for those bi-weekly 48 hours. And when he's not with us, we have our daily phone calls to catch up on the day's events.

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Spending as much time with him as I can and making the most of that time is natural and a critical part of every day. I don't do it to compensate for my father's mistakes, but I see more clearly what I missed and I swear to myself that I will never let him feel that vacuum.

See his work HERE.

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all photographs by Warren Harold from Alternating Weekends.