One photo, two lives impacted for the better: Photographer and subject meet a year later

This year marked 12-year-old Brody Carroll’s second trip to the BNP Paribas Open, but it was in fact his fourth attempt.

It started with a Christmas gift of tickets to the tennis tournament in Indian Wells in 2019 from his parents, Chuck and Michele. Of course, the 2020 tournament was canceled, and then in 2021, Brody was too young to be vaccinated and once again unable to attend.

You can imagine the disappointment for an avid, young tennis player who puts about eight hours a week into his own game.

But in 2022 Brody and his family successfully made the four-hour trip from Phoenix to make good on the 2019 gift and found themselves in Stadium 1 at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden watching Brody’s absolute favorite, Rafael Nadal.

That’s where I found them. From my courtside position, I looked up and saw Brody and his family with a large red banner with “Vamos Rafa” hand-written on it. At the next big point by Rafa, I aimed up to their section and sure enough, Brody and family were cheering loud.

I knew the odds were low I’d find them again to ask their names, but I figured the photo was worth putting in our online gallery anyway. A few days later, Chuck happened to see the photo and reached out to thank me and to ask if there was a way they could have a copy of it. We made arrangements, and that was that I thought.

Little did I know the photo was far from forgotten by the Carroll family. So much so that Chuck reached out to me this year to tell me, “how many joyful memories it has provoked” and to ask if I’d be covering the tournament again and if we could meet so he, Michele and Brody could thank me in person.

And so we did, without ceremony and perhaps to the annoyance of a fan or two seated nearby (apologies to them), we met for a moment during a changeover. Just long enough to put names to faces and shake hands, but that was enough.

It is a welcome reminder of the impact small moments in journalism can have.

While I admit it isn’t technically one of the best photos I’ve taken at the BNP, to the Carroll family — and now to me — it is one of the most important.

This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: BNP Paribas Open: How one photo impacted two lives for the better