A Leg to Stand On…

This photo was composed by Assad, my young Syrian refugee friend who I featured in “My Boys,” my recent piece in Salon. I can’t help but suspect that his inspiration for this composition came from the trauma of seeing his uncle’s leg shot off in the Syrian war–an incident which comes up often in conversation. After Assad told me exactly how he wanted this photo shot, I dutifully picked up my camera–as he began balancing on one of the cans he usually sits on to shine shoes…