Where I've been and those I've shot along the way.

Ryan Katz, photographed by Vernon T. Williams

I made this photograph of Ryan Katz, quarterback for the Oregon State University Beavers, as part of a recent spread I did for 1859 Magazine.  This session was part of a two-day shoot to create profiles of Ryan and of Darron Thomas, quarterback for the University of Oregon Ducks.

In each of these sessions I felt the presence of the quarterback’s hands as subjects in their own right.  Whether this came from Darron and Ryan or it was something I was projecting I don’t know, but I can’t help thinking that quarterbacks are no different from musicians, sculptors or carpenters; so much of the talent and skill that defines them comes through those hands, and as those skills and talents grow in the public arena so do the importance of those hands.  That importance, and the subconscious awareness of it, is shown in the tiny gestures and motions of everyday life.  Like how a police officer will always stand with his right hip away from you, even though he’s been your best friend since childhood and doesn’t think for a second that you’d ever reach for his gun.

It was that way with Darron and Ryan.  In every shot the hands were there, silently asking to be noticed.  Even in this frame, where the hands are two-thirds missing, I can hear them whispering, “Hey.  You with the camera.  You know we’re the reason you’re here.  Forget about him and just shoot us.”

Or, then again, maybe I’m just losing it.