Summer Camp, Mark Steinmetz

Two projects I focused on were little league baseball and summer camps. Every year, from spring into summer, one would lead into another and certain things never changed…At summer camp, you have sleeping bags, cabins and camp res. There isn’t much difference between them in 1990 or 1965. I like that time of age, too. There’s a kind of grave maturity developing at around 11 years old. When a little kid laughs or cries, it doesn’t have real resonance, whereas if someone has these emotions between eight and 12, there’s a poignancy to it. When they become adults, it’s just not the same. Many of these photos are about the predicament of being a kid put into a certain situation. In one picture, these girls who have been so horrible to each other all summer are now parting – and the depth of their love just gushes out. It’s almost excruciating...