Preston Pollard in NYC

© 2011 Brian Adams

Yesterday, I had the pleasure of photographing my old friend from AK, Preston Pollard, who is now living in LA and pursing a career in acting. Preston has been skateboarding for 14 years and has been featured in various publications, commercials, and music videos for his talents. And he's true-blue through and through; at the age of 19, he started speaking at schools in Anchorage about how to avoid the negative influences that drag most adolescents down and how to follow one's dreams and ambitions, and he did so incorporating skateboarding demonstrations into his speeches. And, even with his busy schedule, he's coached at the world-famous Windelles Camp and toured the country with Boarders for Christ. At the young age of 22, Preston knows who he is and what he stands for, and he's always been an inspiration to me.

This weekend was Preston's first time in NYC since he was 18. He is currently working in Connecticut as an assistant to one of the lead actors in a new film by Steven Spielberg, Super 8, so this was our first opportunity to get together for a shoot in a long time. We walked all of lower Manhatten in the morning and finished our day at Times Square. It was fun to show someone the city who was as excited as Preston to see and appreciate it; it was his first time seeing Times Square, the Brooklyn Banks, the Statue of Liberty, Ground Zero, and Battery Park. "It's amazing how much you can do in a day here," Preston said to me around five o'clock.

It was wonderful hanging out with a familiar face from back home and seeing him doing so well. If you would like to see more images from our day, go here.

And, to see two of the published pieces we did together check out the In Print section on baphotos.com.