“I was born in Detroit, raised down in Florida, but basically I cut ties with the family that I was with.”
Meet Nate.
“It’s a long story, but they kind of took the role of my mom and dad, and it really wasn’t working out too well when I started getting older. They started out really wealthy, and by the time I was twelve, they lost all the money by the twin towers going down. My uncle… his business went under. So I kind of got turned into from being their ‘son’ to becoming like a pet that they didn’t want anymore. So, I just kind of raised myself from that point on, and then when I turned sixteen, it got too difficult being there in that environment… I moved out at sixteen and a half and got my own apartment, finished high school, then went back up to Detroit… that’s where I met my fiancé. I finished up college down here.”
What advice would you give to your younger self? “Get out earlier than I could have or go and broaden my horizons, go and travel a lot more. I’m just now realizing how much you can actually experience with just talking with other people and going instead of staying inside or staying in the neighborhood, you know, feeling comfortable. I should have really just branched out and made my own family and met people. I’m starting to try to do it now. It’s just kind of hard with being older and having older people responsibilities.”
Do you have a place that you’d want to travel to first? “I want to go to Machu Picchu in Peru. I want to go to the tip top, breath fresh air and feel that inner spirit.”
Technical Notes: We were in a bright alleyway and Nate was positioned in front of a dark window. I used a reflector to even out the light on his face.
Dan Russell-Pinson 