Andre D. Wagner’s Eye for the Photograph-Prepared

There’s a second I usually recall that defines, for me, the ambition and affection that dwell in equal measure inside the work of Andre D. Wagner. We have been sitting collectively in a automotive, ready at a stoplight, someplace in one of many Carolinas, in 2019. A publication had give you the concept of pairing a author and a photographer for per week to discover a area of the nation, then use no matter was gathered, between them, to inform a narrative. Wagner and I had by no means met earlier than doing this project collectively. We’d achieved pretty properly taking turns on the wheel, however on this explicit day he had assumed many of the driving duties, a truth I need to admit as a result of it makes the second in query extra spectacular.

Within the few seconds earlier than the sunshine modified, a bunch of younger Black boys rode up alongside us on motorbikes. They sat piled two per bike, some with their shirts off, delighting within the mild heat of autumn on the horizon. Wagner, with one hand on the wheel, on the brink of drive off when the sunshine turned inexperienced, aimed his digicam towards the youngsters. And so they, beforehand detached to our presence, turned much more vigorous for the digicam, throwing their fingers up, smiling extensive. It was a break up second. It felt gradual solely as a result of the digicam existed inside it, a vessel that freezes time however which, when in motion, may gradual time.