Snapshots

Yaroslav was raised by his adoptive older brother, Eddie. From the day he emerged from his orb Eddie took care of him, up until when he moved out. 

Yaroslav was a sweet, creative kid, often staying up late to work on his drawings, or writing whatever new story had just popped into his head. Frequently keeping his older brother up for hours before eventually passing out. He sometimes would struggle to socialize during early years. Talking to other new Xeros was rough! And he frequently felt patronized by older individuals, whether or not this is a fair assessment is up for debate.

It was his 9th birthday when Eddie got Yaroslav his first camera, and from that day on it’s been nothing but photography. Eddie did his best to encourage his little brother's interests, and as it became a passion, a career, Eddie was always there to back Yaroslav up and cheer him on.

Yaroslav took hundreds of photos with that thing, and the day it broke was devastating. He had always been a bit clumsy, and he tripped while trying to take a walk-by photo of a pond. The young xero tried to fix it himself, but it was a lost cause. The swamp water did it in.

Yaroslav would use his life savings to buy a new camera in his early teen years, a much nicer one! He also vowed never to drop it into any ponds, and has used it ever since, even as his collection grew and grew. With occasional help from Eddie, especially before Yaroslav started doing photography sessions professionally. He was still just a kid and going out of his way to make money from his hobby.

Not everyone took it as seriously, but the people who did meant the world to him. Yaroslav would find friendship at his local photography meetups. These people weren’t just supportive, they were in the same boat he was. People who loved this craft as much, if not sometimes more than he did, and were happy to share and listen.

Learning to manage his new business took a lot of time and effort, but he got there eventually. Writing down every little thing, and learning which customers to turn down would be skills he needed to learn if he wanted to run a business. Eddie had very little customer service experience, working as a baker in a shop he didn’t own. He rarely saw customers or had to deal with “difficult” patrons, so his advice mostly came in the form of asking his coworkers or his small-business friends for tips and tricks. Many of which he passed onto his little brother, wanting nothing more than for him to succeed.

And he did.

Yaroslav, at the ripe-xero age of 16, moved out after a few years of running his photography business. There were hugs, and goodbyes, but he wouldn’t be going far. Moving into his own, small house in the Zae’ka region, using money he’d earned from shoots. He’s going strong to this day, and still visits his older brother at least once a week, and the two are close to this very day.