Saturday mornings unchanged

He has a spark in his eyes when we see each other. It’s like running into an old friend you only catch once in a blue moon—except, in reality, we see each other many a Saturday morning. Jon hits the skate ramp before sunrise, just as I hit the beach in the early hours, 35mm and medium format in hand.

We trade stories... How’s your week been? How’s the fam? What gig do you have lined up next? My son did so-and-so last week. That southerly swell carried you out quite far the other morning—me, referencing the time we bumped into each other on a morning swim. We spend a good 30 to an hour catching up and it’s as refreshing as morning swim.

Between his skate sessions, I keep an eye on the light; watching how it catches the curve of the ramp, the arc of his movement. Sometimes I study the scene, searching for the right angle, but the best shots are always the ones I don’t plan, spontaneous, like our conversations.

Maybe that’s what I like most, how little has changed. Jon still carries that youthful energy in the morning. I still see him as a kid on a Saturday—unfazed, in his element. I like that he’s never lost his sense of play.

I suppose I haven’t either.

Jon will be featuring in my upcoming work, Waiting On V2. I’ve shot plenty of sessions in all kinds of light, with all kinds of camera bodies and film stocks. These ones—Fuji GA 645w, Fomapan 400.