Shane Lavalette

Girl with Blue Eyes, New Orleans, LA, 1998 (from “Perilous Pilgrimage”)
© William Greiner

Last March, William Greiner sent me a copy of his small book Baton Rouge Blues. At the time that I wrote about the book, I mentioned William’s early color work which I admire quite a bit.

Recently, I wrote William asking him about one of his early projects, Perilous Pilgrimage, and he was happy to tell me about it:

I began this series of photographs, titled “Perilous Pilgrimage”, in anticipation of becoming a parent a few years ago. The notion of being a parent forced me to think about children, the process of growing up and “coming of age”. In this process, young children can momentarily appear to be older, mature, “beyond their years”. Older children often appear to be caught by adolescence, between child and adulthood. Then there are the strange juxtapositions of children interacting with adults, acting out for adults or unconsciously mimicking adults. Life and growing up is a journey, like a pilgrimage, that we all know can sometimes be perilous.

Ashton and Paul, Metairie, LA, 1999 (from “Perilous Pilgrimage”)
© William Greiner

Boy in Tree, New Orleans, LA, 1996 (from “Perilous Pilgrimage”)
© William Greiner

Girl with Stroller, Gonzales, LA, 1997 (from “Perilous Pilgrimage”)
© William Greiner

Next to Eggleston, William is one of those photographers that I think of who has a “way” with color. See more from this series here.