Cassie Cox
Zac Crain,18, has gotten teenagers from Decatur County to reveal their secrets without revealing their identity.
Crain is in John Pratt’s psychology class at North Decatur High School, which means he was assigned to do a project for the well-known Fall Chautauqua. Crain wanted to do something that incorporated photography and music.
His inspiration came from PostSecret founded by Frank Warren. PostSecret is a community mail art project, in which anyone can send a decorated postcard anonymously admitting a secret that might end up on the website, museum exhibits or PostSecret’s books. PostSecret has made five books and receives thousands of secrets.
The All-American Rejects used artwork from the website as their background for their music video “Dirty Little Secret” in 2005. The band’s video also featured people holding up papers with their secrets including fears, love, sadness, wishes and deception.
Crain decided to remake the “Dirty Little Secret” video, using his friends, co-workers and students from North Decatur. He took more than 30 photos of individuals wearing masks borrowed from a friend to allow their identity to stay hidden. The secrets range from abusive relationships to depression nobody knows about. Crain hopes his three-minute video will earn him a spot to compete for one of the winners of Pratt’s Chautauqua.
Crain loves photography. He came in third place in a photography competition in Lake Santee over the summer and can now be seen in the directory. He is currently working on his portfolio for IU and Ball State now that he is finished with his Chautauqua. He hopes to become a photo journalist someday.
Besides taking photos, Crain likes going to concerts. SOS Fest in Shelbyville was his first concert, and he has been to more 20 or 30 since then. His favorite concert featured Attack! Attack!, We Came as Romans and I See Stars. Crain has traveled to see Warped Tour four years in a row. He has been in three bands himself.
He also enjoys hanging out with his friends, especially Trent Bush and Dylan Conway. His girlfriend is Marissa Hoban, a sophomore at North Decatur. He drives a 1995 Ford Aspire named Herman. Crain is a shift leader at Papa Murphy’s, where he has worked for a year and a half.
Crain has three sisters and is the son of Melissa and Stephen Crain. His myspace URL is www.myspace.com/xxcomedyxxtradgedyxx.
