Yesterday was a most wonderful day. Coming off a week of being in the bed with a bad cold, I decided to do what always makes me feel better – take photos. This time it was the Boston Marathon. Honestly, I wasn’t caught up in all the emotion and celebration (for numerous reasons) so I wasn’t sure what I wanted to capture. I went out to Wellesley Center right around the 15 mile mark and the first runners I met and photographed were the Massachusetts National Guardsmen. As a vet watching them walk in step brought back memories of basic training, “Good Times”

The next group that came by was the wheelchair group. I decided it was best if I sat on the ground for their shots yet what was unexpected was how much photographing THEM inspired ME to be better. By using my 70-200mm lens, I was able to get close enough to see a bit of the pain and joy of their 26.2-mile journey.

Up next were the elite runners. I took a few power shots but didn’t really feel the “power” of their run so I decided to stick around and photograph some friends, I knew were running.

While waiting for the next group of runners, I kept reflecting back on a conference I attended at Harvard a few days before titled “Repairing The Breach”. Part of the daylong discussion was “myths about black men”. Myth: there are more black men in jail than college. Truth: there are over a half million more black men in college than in jail.

The more I sat there the more I started to think about how I could help to shift from myth to truth. Then I began thinking about how over the years, I never really saw images of runners of color, especially, the non-elite black men. I’m sure they are out there just not in my circle of knowledge. So, I decided the first step I could take so shortly after the conference was to use my camera to illustrate we were there, we excelled and we made a difference.

I focused on the men of color running. The power I felt while photographing my brothers, and the love they gave me back when they noticed me photographing them, was beyond amazing, Over the next few days, I will post a few of those images so you too can feel their POWER.

Thanks again for stopping by!