While reading Nick Haymes' new photo book Gabe, I watched in horrified fascination as doe-eyed 14 year old Gabe Nevins drifted into this scary adulthood that seemed impossible after immortalizing him in my mind after watching Gus Van Sant's Paranoid Park. Gabe reads like a downward spiral that documents the fading of Nevins' promise as an actor to the reality of drugs and living on the streets in California.
Gabe's health seemed to deteriorate with each page which caused me to have a growing sense of dread about reaching the end of the book. In a piece The Fader did with Haymes, they liken Gabe to River Phoenix, the star of Van Sant's My Own Private Idaho and who died tragically at 23 from a drug overdose. Intentional or not, Haymes' photographs are reminiscent of ...Idaho in their dreamlike dirtiness and clear bright colours with warm washes. In the same interview with Fader, Haymes concludes in saying that "...so far (Gabe)'s okay and I hope he’s going figure it out and get on the right path."
All photos by Nick Haymes, can be found in "Gabe"
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