¶I took more than 600 photos during the week of Jonathan’s graduation (it literally lasted all week). This one and this one, which were taken one second apart, are my favorites by far.
¶Why? Two reasons.
¶The first I realized right away and in the moment. Just compare the photos. Renee and I were standing by one of the paths entering Harvard Yard, waiting for Jonathan to enter with his house. I was scanning the grads through the viewfinder as they walked by, nervously searching for him, worried that I would miss the shot and, more importantly, miss seeing him as he walked by. I had almost given up when I finally saw him through a gap between students that was opening and closing as they walked toward us.
¶The first photo is one of first I captured after finding him. Renee is standing off to my right, taking video, and Jonathan hasn’t noticed either of us yet. He’s focused and hopefully soaking in the moment. I remember feeling relieved that I found him but nervous about nailing focus on his eyes. I was kind of out of the moment for a moment. I was photographing the moment but not experiencing it.
¶Then I captured the second photo literally a second later. Jonathan had noticed Renee and me during that second and started to smile. I’ll never forget seeing that smile appear on his face as he noticed us in the crowd, and the feeling of the smile appear on my face as I watched his develop. These two photos capture one second of time and our connected smiles that developed over that second, his captured in the second photo and mine captured in my memory. In all the photos I’ve ever taken I don’t think I have captured something like that before. I love that.
¶It took me a bit longer to realize the second reason these two photos are my favorites. Last week was a bit crazy - Jonathan wanted to do all the things and we were thrilled about that. Doing all the things is not really his thing, so Renee and I loved doing all the things. And there were a lot of things! Graduation was like a weeklong fair of sorts. It was amazing, and it was non-stop. We were up early every morning and going all day long. I really wasn’t able to think about it all until driving home on Saturday. Fourteen hours in the car gives you plenty of time to think about things.
¶Somewhere in New York I realized that the one second in time captured in those two photos was really a bigger thing for me.
¶Harvard holds Commencement in the full Yard, which is kind of compartmentalized into Old Yard and New Yard. Nearly all of it – Old and New – is covered in folding chairs for Commencement. Getting a seat is not particularly challenging, but figuring out where to sit to see your graduate enter the Yard is a different story. It’s a bit of a guessing game because you’re not sure which gate they’ll enter through and it’s all balanced by the pressure of time and the need to find a group of seats together.
¶We had found a few seats alongside the library, in the New Yard where the stage is set and the grads sit. We couldn’t actually see the stage from these seats, but video boards really made that a non-issue. I was happy to be in that area of the Yard and had accepted the low likelihood that we would see Jonathan’s house enter. We were near one of the gates, but would it be the gate? No idea. And I had decided the possibility of finding a better spot was outweighed by the pressure of time. I was happy to have decent seats for Renee, Jake, and me and I think I said something like “these will be fine.”
¶Renee, however, had not yet resigned herself to “these will be fine.” I think she said something like “stay here and save these, I’ll go find a better spot.”
¶So we did. Jake and I held the fort while she pressed on. I ate a quick breakfast (a bar that Renee had thoughtfully packed and of which I was blissfully unaware until we sat in our fine seats). Renee found a security guard and asked if he knew which gate Leverett House would enter through. He did, and she then looked for a place along the path from that gate for us to stand. She eventually called me and told me she had the perfect spot. She had just watched Jonathan’s girlfriend march into the Yard (she’s in the band and was leading another house in the procession) and Leverett was coming next.
¶I know exactly what she said on that call – “Get over here!”
¶So I did. I got to the spot just as the band members leading Leverett into the Yard appeared. I readied the camera and started scanning the crowd as they approached, finally finding Jonathan and snapping these two photos and experiencing that one second in time that I’ll never forget.
¶And it’s all because of Renee. I’ll forever be grateful for that.
¶So, yeah, there are two reasons these photos are my favorites from his graduation.
