After reading the challenge given by New York Times for the “My Generation” photo contest, I was intrigued; first, I needed to determine the general consensus regarding those born between 1995 and 2010. I noticed the phrase instant gratification being tossed around. I learned that, apparently, I had no patience, I couldn’t go a day without technology, and I needed things to work and happen at the press of a button.

Meet my friend Max, a 17-year-old kid from West Hartford, CT. He’s not reliant on 21st Century technology: He uses it, sure, but as an aid rather than a life line. The internet, for Max, is a place to discover how to construct a traditional wigwam, to build a skateboard ramp to launch off of, or to find a secret skate spot underneath a bridge. Building and finding these things took a tremendous amount of time. We worked for months building the hut, spending every Sunday morning from February to May working on it, and we still have a few odd ends to fix up. It took us about an hour and a trip through the freezing water to make it to the concrete ditch we had spotted from the highway above. Max has more patience than most adults I know, being more willing to create than to take. He has shaped, cut and painted several of his own skateboards and ramps. It’s more fun and personal to make something with your own hands than to just buy it with an app on your phone.

Contrary to the stereotypes about my generation, we love to play outside and use our imaginations, we love to create, and we love to explore. Everything is a process, just like taking and developing these photographs on 35mm film. I get more satisfaction from being patient and persistent than I do from instantaneous rewards. I hope these photographs help to shed light on the false assumptions made about my generation. Just because we grew up with fast technology doesn’t mean that Gen Z has lost the appreciation for patience and the great outdoors.