This blog post was published by DFP – Documentary Family Photographers last December.
So, when I started my family photography business, I used to do the classical posy photography. And telling people what to do made me feel super awkward! I felt so frustrated, because I was not equipped to direct people, I started to loath my camera.
So I took a break and went back to my first love: street photography.
What really helped me find the path back to family photography was the birth of my godson. Photographing him and his family just as they were, documenting their day to day life made me happy to make pictures again. Real life feeds my curiosity. Real life is so rich of beauty and worth keeping memories. And by letting me into their real life I’ve discovered the documentary approach and a new way to preserve family moments.
Sticking to my own ways guided me towards documentary family photography.
Like most kids I had the gift of getting in trouble or not doing homework so my most vivid memories of my mom are those of the countless times she was yelling at me when I was doing something wrong. While my dad was telling me “you have to listen to your mother”.
I’m one of those persons that have a hard time remembering “the old days”, so I have almost no memories of my mom and dad ever being tender with me. But I remember those happier childhood moments, if I can look at some pictures. Is it like this for you, too?
This is why I’m drawn to photograph different types of affection between family members. I want to make sure that when kids grow up they will have the proof they have been loved. They will have proof that their parents were there not just as parents saying always No, but as play-companions, comforters, and best friends.
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