My brother passed away in a tragic motorcycle accident this past October. Will really liked to shoot guns, and he loved teaching my family and spreading his passion for this hobby. My family has been to shooting ranges near home in New Jersey, Richmond (where my brother moved after graduating from Columbia in 2013), and Tampa. We’ve typically shot pistols and rifles together, but Will loved shotguns so we most recently went to a clay shooting course in upstate New York.

I didn’t understand my brother’s love for shooting guns until after his death, and I felt like I brushed aside something about which he really cared. As someone who believes in stricter gun control laws, I never saw myself as someone who would recreationally shoot, and I didn’t know why my brother would. I now realize that shooting was an activity my brother loved to improve at. It was something he enjoyed teaching others and connecting over—just like any other hobby. And my brother certainly cared about gun safety as much as I did. 

We were all beginners in clay shooting, so we worked with an instructor—a role in which Will naturally thrived. This selection of photos captures my family’s experience at the course, including what we’ve learned, our improvements, and my brother’s notable absence. The selection features two photos each of my father, sister, and mother. The leftmost pictures of them depict each member of my family with the instructor as they learn the basics of the shotgun. The rightmost pictures highlight my family taking the reins themselves, with my dad preparing to shoot, my sister celebrating her first hit on target, and my mom aiming for the second of two targets after hitting the first. The black and white images in the middle nuance the entire experience for my family: it is a happy family endeavor characterized by intense sorrow.