Gymnast Leyva Lives American dream.
Monday, September 19th, 2011One of the best things about what I do is the fact that I get to meet amazing people from all walks of life. One recent amazing person I met and photographed was 19-year-old Danell Leyva. Â He is a Miami based gymnast looking to gold at the 2012 Olympics. Â That alone would have been a great story. Â However, Danell’s story is much more interesting…as The Washington Post’s Amy Shipley showed in her September 14th sports front page article about Leyva and his path from a sickly boy in Cuba to a top gymnist.
The photo shoot took place at the gym where Danell trains, which is also the gym that his parents own. As I walked into the huge warehouse that housed Universal Gymnastics I was amazed to see a group of kids from 5- year-old to 17- year-old doing the most amazing things with their bodies on an assortment of gymnastic apparatices.
The assignmnet from the Washington Post called for a family portrait of Danell with his mom and stepfather. Danell parents were happy to be pulled away from their coaching duties for a few minutes for the photoshoot with Danell. Being that Danell was doing an Iron Cross, a difficult gymnatic move on the rings we had a limited amount of time to shoot while he was in position. Â But Joshua Prezant Photography “stuck” the shot and everyone was happy. Â I wish Danell the best of luck in making the 2012 olympics and hopefully bringing home gold for the USA.
Danell Leyva © Joshua Prezant 2011
The spread