Tyler Whittmore: A Senior Profile Portrait by Michael Francisco (2011)

Tyler is a free spirit with lots of humility. Heir to a great fortune due to his father's skill in banking, he was expected to be bred into a businessman that could easily oversee his father's company. However, Tyler's habit as a slacker got the best of him, and he dropped out of the many prestigious colleges he was forced to attend to live a life of relaxation. His years as a surfer running on island-time ended with his parents' death. Unable to inherit his fortune because he did not complete the schooling set by his father, Tyler is forced to enter the workforce for the first time. His outlook on life changed and his source of income gone, the twenty-nine year-old finds solace in meditation and philosophy as he tries to cope with attending his first job at a Safeway grocery store. I made Tyler a proud surfer not only to highlight one of his hobbies, but to express that the nature of the sport parallels his need for escape and freedom as a former prep-school student. Bearing the burden of continuing his father's legacy, riding the waves makes Tyler feel weightless. Tyler's nerdy, thick-rimmed glasses show that he is still highly educated and has the potential for great thinking. Finding solace in mind through meditation and philosophy is the first thing that Tyler seeks when his parents pass away, represented by the martial arts book at his feet. His striped v-neck, tattered sweatpants, and messy blond hair show his dirty surfer lifestyle. Yet, the photo shows a transitional period for Tyler. He is taking off his glasses, poised to take on the world and finally start working for himself. The back and fill light are set dimly so that Tyler has a shadow across half of his face, representing the duality that this hippie surfer is now forced to rethink his life and start being independent as he reaches his thirtieth year.