Disney World, circa 1988
“We’re all travelling through time together every day of our lives. All we can do is do our best to relish this remarkable ride.” – About Time
My whole life, I have struggled with the idea of things changing and ending. The idea of growing up always made me remarkably sad, even as a young child. I remember, in particular, a family trip to Disney world when I was around 12. My brother was a teenager then and totally over the concept, and it struck me, that last night we were leaving The Magic Kingdom…it wouldn’t be like this again. All of us here, together, just like this. I felt heartbroken, not that vacation was over, but that we as a family were beyond this magical part of childhood. I was soon to be a teenager, my brother was nearly driving. All too soon we’d be out of the house and living our own lives apart.
Of course, what I didn’t know then was how much better life got. How the magic ends for a time, and then one day you get to see it all again through the eyes of your child.
But alas, my daughter suffers the same fate as me: she’s growing up so devastatingly fast. I’ve blinked and my tiny baby is walking and talking (oh, the talking!) and delighting us all with the little person she is becoming even as it breaks our hearts.
This longing, this awareness I’ve always had of how quickly the time goes, it’s all led me to where I am today. Photography gives me a super power: the ability to freeze a moment, to freeze a feeling. And this is the power of documentary photography. By capturing real life, just as you lived it, you can hold onto the moments that really matter…forever. Not just for you to look back on when your children are grown, but for them, and their children, to know who you are and who you were when they were little. They may not remember what it was like when they couldn’t even reach the kitchen counter, but they can SEE how you picked them up and showed them the world.
I still get a tear in my eye when I see my daughter changing right before me, but telling our stories and documenting our every day also frees me to relish in the moments. I don’t have to dwell too much on how quickly it all goes by, because we have our own special way of going back to visit.
This is how I want to help YOU. It’s the greatest honor to be entrusted with your family memories, and I challenge you to look at photography through this new lens. Not just the beautiful posed family portraits, but the real moments, the messy moments, your real life and your real chaos.
If you are ready to embrace your imperfections and start documenting your life well lived, contact me today for your own storytelling session!
