I was fortunate to meet teen girl boxer Paulina, age 15 at Black Dog Boxing in San Juan Puerto Rico. I was standing in front of the gym waiting for a special exhibition of their fighters to start when she approached the door. Pauline’s smile and interaction with the other fighters was amazing. Not only is she an amazing fighter, she has a spectacularly warm personality and exudes enthusiasm. I spent weeks messaging her to be my model and was so happy when she finally accepted. This is my first and hopefully not last time to shoot a teen girl boxer.
I was also lucky to find a huge abandoned school near the northwest corner of Puerto Rico. The campus comprises elementary, middle, and high school buildings perfectly perched on a cliff overlooking that Atlantic Ocean. The administration building still contained a book repository filled with books and many of the classrooms had books, desks, posters, and other educational items laying about.
This was my first time to shoot for Youth and Urban Decay in the United States.
