ON SEEING, A Journal. #505

Growing UP: Twins

She: Ariyan Pratt

He: Zaire Pratt

December 6, 2022

Pratt twins, 5 and 23 yrs.

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 Ariyan and Zaire, 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.

These special young people, Ariyan and Zaire, proved to be as remarkable and authentic as the many young people I have had the privilege to get to know.

4 yrs;  Ariyan, left; Zaire right

5 yrs;  Ariyan, left; Zaire right

6 yrs; Zaire, left; Ariyan, right

7 yrs; Zaire, left; Ariyan, right

8 yrs;  Ariyan, left; Zaire right

9 yrs;  Ariyan, left; Zaire right

10 yrs; Zaire, left; Ariyan, right

11 yrs; Zaire, left; Ariyan, right

13 yrs;  Ariyan, left; Zaire right

14 yrs; Zaire, left; Ariyan, right

15 yrs; Zaire, left; Ariyan, right

18 yrs;  Ariyan, left; Zaire right

20 yrs;  Ariyan, left; Zaire right

23 yrs;  Ariyan, left; Zaire right

Thank you, Ariyan, and thank-you, Zaire.

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.