Michael O'Brien 1998-2002 Yanik Jayaram and Leighton Harris [Halloween Night: Garage Portraits]
Pigmented ink print, archival Various sizes
PDNB Photographs Do Not Bend Gallery "I remember dressing up for Halloween," says Yanik, now a freshman at Berkeley and a drummer in a jazz band. "It was a lot of fun pretending to be someone else, and that Halloween I decided to go as a bum. It was always sort of an unspoken contest to see whose costume got the best response from people as we went trick-or-treating door to door, and I definitely lost that year as my costume was no match for Leighton's pimp suit."
"Dressing up as a pimp was something new to me," says Leighton, now in his first year at St. Edward's University, and a part-time employee of Washington Mutual bank. "I was headed to my 8th-grade Halloween dance when this picture was taken, and I remember thinking how cool I was in my costume. 'Man, everyone is going to think I look so good in this, I can't wait!' Although I will never actually be a womanizer, it was a good time testing the waters at that young age."