Extreme Tubing

In 2017, the Atlanta-based photographer Kate T. Parker turned her photo series focused on girls into a best-selling book, Strong Is the New Pretty. Now she has released The Heart of a Boy, in which she trains her lens on the “strength and spirit” of lads—mostly from around the South—as they explore, play, dance, make music, create art, and overcome obstacles. This outtake captures Parker’s nephew Luke as he catches air while tubing behind a boat driven by his mother. “I love that shot because he’s just going for it,” Parker says. “What my work is trying to show is not a message for boys or for girls—it’s a human message about being who you are and being celebrated for that. If we accept our kids for who they are, when they grow up they will do that for each other.”