In this diptych, two friends were in a very serious skateboarding "skate off" competition, jumping off of a high ledge and spinning. As one performed, the other watched intently. I watched this unfold and then asked if I could make a portrait of them performing and watching. I later realized that the images of them intently staring held the complexity I was looking for. These photographs are the result of my curiosity about the importance of teenage life and coming-of-age rituals in the American South. I make groups of portraits that translate everyday teenage experiences into something monumental and epic. I am looking specifically throughout the purple state of Georgia, across cultural and economic milieu, to hone in on the unifying elements of adolescence. I want to make portraits that reveal this negotiation--across diverse groups and settings--to mine the tensions between commonality and difference, success and failure.