Rodney Stotts is a falconer. I had never heard the term before I received this assignment. Once I began some basic research on Rodney I became energized for this shoot, like no other in a very long time. I have met and photographed dozens of internationally known celebrities, actors, television personalities, performing artists and politicians. Yet there was something about Rodney’s journey that captivated me beyond the normal preparation for a shoot. Rodney is a man who grew up in Washington, D.C. during the height of the crack epidemic that plagued so many poor minority communities across America. His is a journey from dealing drugs to becoming one of the few licensed African-American falconers in the nation. There is a film about him called “The Falconer”. He has started a non-for-profit called Rodney’s Raptors, created to introduce young persons to the world of falconry.
