The "SOME PEOPLE" Essays
Reaching for What is Possible by Adam Stoltman | Edited by Kimberly J. Soenen
Reaching for What is Possible
by Adam Stoltman
Though taken in very different settings and depicting individuals in vastly different circumstances, these two photographs are connected in more ways than the obvious visual and athletic similarities. Both speak to what is possible when we are supported by family and community.
The young girl at pictured here is playing badminton after attending services at a Buddhist temple in the Vietnamese community in Albuquerque, New Mexico where Asian Americans make up just under 3% of the population. The temple is an anchor in a community which benefitted from the largest ever public health grant directed towards Asian American and Pacific Islander communities nationwide, providing a variety of family services, enhancing community cohesiveness, and perhaps most importantly, reminding people that they are not alone.
Her outstretched arms and sense of flight reflect all that we hope for our children, that their spirits be able to soar, thanks to supports of a practical nature in their lives. Though she appears to fly, one foot remains planted firmly on the ground.
The second woman pictured here, was photographed in the most hallowed of cathedrals in the lofty world of professional tennis, Wimbledon's famed Center Court. Like the girl at left, she too had dreams as a child, and the added burden of growing up in one of the roughest neighborhoods in America, the Compton area of Los Angeles. A father who saw the potential for greatness in her and her sister, and the daily discipline of routine and structure he created, provided the anchor which allowed her to ultimately compete at the sport's highest levels, becoming one of its greatest players.
Though she is on the ground, she is staying in the point, still reaching for what is possible to create in the moment, a testament to a tenacity born of her origins, and a strong and connective family which nurtured her along the way. Even while confronted with chronic illness, she still competes to this day.
(Photos of Venus Williams and young Korean girl by Adam Stoltman. All Rights Reserved.)