CULTURE

Photos: Sean O’Neal Is Choosing His Own Adventure

June 15, 2016

Last year, the son of John McEnroe and Tatum O’Neal unburdened himself of his legacy by changing his surname. Now he is opening his first solo photo show in L.A., with pictures from a life-changing trip to Nepal.

“Hari was my tour guide in Baseri, one of the poorest and most remote villages in Nepal. He’s thirteen years old. When he was six, he fell walking to school and broke his arm. Because there are no hospitals anywhere near his village, he was only given a cloth sling to wear. When his father had saved up enough money, he took him to Kathmandu, a two day long trip, to get it treated properly. Not knowing that Hari needed surgery, his father was unable to afford it and they had to come back. His arm is now permanently disfigured.

While we waited for the sun to come up, I played music on my iPhone. Not gonna lie, we were jamming pretty hard to Daft Punk. He handled bass (whistling) and I had drums (hand clapping).”

“I walked past this woman on the road to Gorkha, a small village in the mountains. I immediately turned around, and ran back to her. I showed her my camera and asked if I could take a picture of her. She stopped, and looked at me excitedly.

There was something about the way she carried herself, something about the clothes and jewelry she was wearing. When she smiled, I saw what kind of person she was deep down. More than an old woman who had persevered through many difficulties, she was simply a woman who knew how to love life.”

“I remember thinking when I took this photo how the cracks in the wall mirrored the wrinkles of this woman’s face. An aftershock hit soon after I took this photo. Most of this house collapsed into rubble.

Her husband started laughing and I couldn’t believe that he was joking around after his house was destroyed. I had someone ask him why he wasn’t more upset and he shrugged, smiled and said, ‘What can you do?'”