henry and blue dog

Just before we left New Orleans, I asked Henry if I could take a portrait of him with his little friend Blue Dog. I had given him a retro Fischer Price toy camera when we arrived, and together we'd been taking lots of pictures. (He holds the camera's back toward his face and carefully snugs his cute little mouth inside the lens before pressing the shutter.) He was very intent on the whole process and mostly loved the way the flash bulb made a quick rotation each time he snapped a picture.

So, I asked him to sit on the sofa for the portrait, and here is the way he looked out toward me. Just looking, just being himself, just being honest, already somehow just being sure of himself.