FC1

I remember the frenzied celebration of being alive, the wild exuberance of testosterone running amok --- this batch of photographs takes me to that place.

Thankfully, this is well outside any personal experience I ever had, though my mental state as a young boy probably often could have looked like this! I was more of a sidelines kid. These photos are incredibly well done, forceful, action-packed, searingly in-the-moment and full of life. They capture a level of energy and grittiness that is both attractive and repellent to me, the tension of that making them even better. I find them also scary. We are animals and, when untamed, there's no telling what our instincts can lead to. I see war in these photos and the splashing of blood. It's disturbing even while it feels so true.

Rough play. If not for the opportunity to roll around in mud I wager they'd find something better to do.

Thanks guys, quite a quartet of visitors and commenters; this can not be a coincidence...

I was fascinated by this because of all the reasons mentioned: the combination of play and seriousness, friendship and hostility, tenderness and violence. This is a joy to observe.

Actually, these are pictures of a rite of passage with the local boy scouts, initiating their older members into a leadership position.