I was inspired by the i-D magazine article "Age Ain't Nothing But a Number" to really think about what our age means for our identity and what consequences the societal importance of youth has on the very youth it treasures. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but your youth is fading and there is nothing you can do about it. The question becomes: is that the worst thing ever, or is it just a simple fact of life? As college students, we are told so often that we are in our prime, that life really can't get any better than when you are in your late teens and early 20s, living with your friends and "figuring shit out." No pressure or anything, right? Just RELAX and enjoy the most awesome times of your life. The times that you will remember forever as what defined you as a person while you are grumpy and tired and middle aged and wishing some magic eternal spring of youth would bless you with your young body and soul once again. Popular culture today is so youth oriented that how can we not develop a crippling anxiety about the number we are supposed to define ourselves with.

Okay, maybe I'm being (kind of) dramatic about the whole thing, but even since the days of Peter Pan children have been taught to treasure youth and fear the onset of age. I have personally decided, and I urge you all to join me, to stop fucking worrying about it. I have my whole life to be cool. You don't have to automatically become lame when you turn 30. Youth is beautiful and figuring out the world as you come of age is really special, but that doesn't mean that you have to spend your teen years worrying about making them picture perfect. That spirit and sparkle that young people emulate doesn’t have to go away. I guess what I'm saying is you should live your whole life like you are growing up– because you are –and not worry about wasting the best years of your life; just live them.

I’ve photographed my kid brother, although at 16, he isn’t such a kid anymore, as he leaves the awkwardness of puberty behind and enters the "wonder years" of exploration and self-discovery. These photos show D in all his youthful glory. Hold on to it, man, because it's awesome to be you and you don't have to change.