Eighteen
Canterbury, Kent, June 2019
On the 29th of June 2019 — the day before his actual birthday — we threw Rafferty an eighteenth birthday party in the back garden. Family and close friends, a barbecue, cocktails, warm summer sunshine, and, in recognition of his newly official adult status, a celebratory cigar. His brothers were all in attendance and all in matching Hawaiian shirts, because if you are going to do something, you might as well commit.
This photograph was taken on a family member's phone and pooled with all the other pictures from the day — one of those images that finds its way into the collection sideways, rather than through the viewfinder of the official camera. But it's my favourite from the party, because of what Raff is doing with his face. Double thumbs-up, eyebrow slightly raised, wearing his flower garland over the Hawaiian shirt with the easy confidence of someone who has just turned eighteen and knows it. He is entirely in on the joke, and entirely unbothered. The story that began with a sleeping newborn in a car seat, eighteen years ago, has arrived here.
Samsung SM-G965F, 6mm, 1/320 sec, f/2.4, ISO 25, Lightroom, Photoshop, Silver Efex Pro 2
