Sombras

The child is at once our gift, our hope, and when we are gone, our legacy. These portraits are from my ongoing series on children of El Paso.

Although fatherhood is but a distant dream for me today, my hope is that I have been wise enough to learn from the children I've encountered through my camera.

Diana Munoz, 13, is a top student in her junior high class. At right, Elsa Mata, 17, spends time in thought. Elsa , who has cerebral palsy, spent several years in a mental institution before anyone realized she was of above average intelligence.


At left, Toni, a teen-age mom, dances in a bar to support herself and her child two weeks after giving birth. Below, a child is touched by her mother during a candlelight vigil for children of deadbeat dads.