On Seeing, A Journal. #475

Growing Up: Kelly McLeod

Tuesday, April 19, 2022

9 years and 26 years

The Growing Up Project

I have studied over 200 children from childhood into their 20’s.  I began some when they were newborns; others, as is the case with Kelly, started about the time they could read and write.  For all of them I made annual studio portraits and asked them to write answers to a series of questions, a kind of diary about their lives, their feelings, their hopes, their regrets.

This special young woman, Kelly McLeod, proved to be as remarkable and authentic as any of the many young people I have had the privilege to get to know.

9 years

10 years

11 years

12 years

14 years

14.5 years

15 years

16 years

17 years

18 years

19 years

20 years

26 years

Thank you, Kelly.

Please do return in a few years.


The “GROWING UP “Project:
I am interested in everything about human development, fascinated by maturation, growth, emotional, educational and physical development. This exploration has been a major 30 year odyssey, an adventure that has yielded riches beyond my initial imagining.

Permission was signed by the parents of each and every child every year, and by the participants themselves once they turned 18. In addition, we have now sent copies of all of their writings and edited photographs to the participants for whom I have finished all my editing and have received full permission from that group to publish and post.