A few months ago I was at a music festival called “Building Temples From Death Fest” here in Houston. It’s an all day death metal show featuring bands from around the United States (and sometimes from outside our fair nation) that’s been going for 4 years now. I was there to photograph for my “Houston Metal Project” opus that I’m working on. There was a guy there who looked like he maybe had Cerebral Palsy. I’m not 100% on that but my guess is somewhat educated on the matter. Anyway, I was sitting outside, alone, and he came outside and sat near me. He said hello to me. I admit, I really didn’t want to talk to him at the moment (I really didn’t want to talk to anyone at the moment, I just wanted to get some fresh air), but I was friendly and said “hello” back to him and we struck up a conversation. He mentioned that he was from the Fort Worth area. I asked him what brought him to Houston. He told me that he came down just to see Internal Bleeding, the show’s headline act, and to get a chance to finally meet them. He talked about how he followed the band since 1991 (the year of their 1st album release) and how this was an exciting day for him. It made me think about how the band may have had a positive effect on this man’s life (he appeared to be around my age). It made me realize how important it is to be able to meet one’s own heroes. I honestly have never had the pleasure because I don’t really have any heroes. I mean, I’ve met my share of famous people and have gotten to have nice conversations with them, but never with someone I would label as a hero. I thought about taking an environmental portrait of this man who was really excited to be there, but I did not. I felt that if I did, I would somehow be taking some of his excitement away and keeping it for myself. Looking back, I am glad I made that decision. The excitement he felt was all for him and I wanted to let him have it all.
