I got the chance to go to prom in Chugwater  to continue with a large format project I am doing in the small Wyoming town.  Because there are only 16 students in Chugwater’s high school,  prom is for grades 9-12.  For some of the kids, it seemed like a night that they had waited a long time for and they embraced the experience.  The teenagers I was drawn to though, were those who weren’t really into it.  They were the ones who thought that prom was stupid or that it was a waste of their time.  They spent the beginning of prom hanging out in front of the school, listening to music and talking with friends.  But eventually they joined in, because without them, there would not be enough people to make prom possible.

It illustrated one of the beautiful things to me about a small town.  In a city, these kids could have just ditched the event.  But here, they are part of a community that needs them.  If a couple of kids do not join the basketball team, the team has to be disbanded.  If many more students move away, the school will be shut down.  And if everyone does not go to prom, there will be no prom.  To me, there is something really beautiful about that kind of responsibility.

A big thanks to everyone for letting me hang out.  I realize that the only thing more awkward than a 26-year-old at prom is a 26-year-old lugging around a 4×5 camera at prom.

-b