How ten photographs of me can help you choose your family photographer…

N O W  P L A Y I N G // ‘Teach me to dance’ by Jervis Campbell 

I’ve been thinking about meaningful ways to offer more about myself that will help you decide whether or not I’m the photographer for you. I came to the conclusion that I can tell you many things, but to show you pictures of myself taken by others (mostly) that I love would be a whole different angle. Do we look for similar things when we look at photographs of ourselves? I thought I’d pick ten. Simple, right?

Well crikey no. It seemed like it would be the easiest thing to do and then I tried it. The hard part, and I challenge you to try, is to narrow it down to just ten photos. Do I love having my photo taken? Not really, I’m distracted by exactly the same things that floor so many of us. The dicey angles, the lack of body confidence, the lack of control over the final image, the aesthetics I love, the way it looked in my head versus the way it is in reality. I do, however, know how important it is to write myself into my family photography story, so I will jump in with the hope that it comes off okay. And if it doesn’t I just tell myself, what’s the worst?

Yet looking for photos just took me down the greatest rabbit hole of all time. So many pictures and so many experiences, friendships, so many parenting milestones and just thousands upon thousands of snippets of my everyday experience of the world. It became more about these things than the photography itself, so I have opted for a reframe.

Here are ten things that really draw me in when I see a photograph of myself taken by someone else.

1 / Pure nostalgia.

I am nostalgic in the heaviest sense of the word. I feel absolutely everything and that really carries through in my photography. It makes me preemptively nostalgic for the people I’m working with - the images we take will carry this little piece of your history, whatever turns your journey makes. This is actually a photo of a print - it has survived about 20 years through various life events. I don’t even know who took it but I’ll always love it.

2 / A little or a lot of movement.

This was taken by a close friend of mine at my wedding and I absolutely love it when you can feel motion in a still image. It gives an extra layer of life - I’m all for beauty in imperfection. Full disclosure we had to put the bouncy castle down when the adults got ‘livelier’ and starting crushing the kids. 

3 / When it’s a bit off centre.

The focus of the image doesn’t always have to be front and centre. Catching them off to the side of the frame gives room to see the wider context, and how they interact with their surroundings. In life we’re always moving in and out of metaphorical frames, always on the edge of the next thing, and I love to see it in imagery.

4 / Connection.

To see connection in photography gives me all the joy. Is it not what life is about? Connection with others, with our surroundings. I love it when people catch images of what that looks like from the outside for me. So interesting to see it from another perspective -  this photo was taken by my husband on our first trip as a family of 3 + dog. Nothing about this photo is technically right, but it will always be one of my favourite. Distance documentary but all of the feels.

5 / The every day documentary.

There’s no denying, unposed photographs will always have my heart. As close to reality as we can get. Honest, authentic storytelling. I am here for it.

6 / Real Love.

It’s rare that I’d say I love a photograph that has only myself in the frame. This one was taken by our wedding photographer (Jim Poyner) and it just catches everything I felt on the day. I much prefer this to any of us posing in trees or other weird stuff. Just pure, raw feeling. And a gorgeous dress.

7 / Careful but easy composition.

Composition tells the story - it gives the context. It builds the narrative of the experience, of the reason the photograph came about. It’s such an important part of the photography process and I love it when I see a well composed image.

8 / Out of focus.

I have such a deep love for photography that catches someone or something out of focus. To me it adds a depth of meaning that you just don’t get from the picture perfect clarity. It feels warmer, more inviting, more real. It’s less predictable and offers something less obvious. Sometimes we just don’t need what we expect, we need something a little more. This was taken over 20 years ago on a beach in Cape Town at sunset. What did I know about how things would evolve then? Absolutely nothing.

9 / The timeless classic.

I don’t have any real preference for black and white or colour in a photograph. I think each has their place where they just work just perfectly. This shot was taken in New York when Henry was about 8 months old, but really, it could have been any time. There’s little doubt though that black and white is ageless. It catches time and holds it still.

10 / The exception - keeping an element of control.

Probably, I’m like a lot of people. I (typically) love to see myself caught going about my life. Definitely this has become more significant since getting married and having my family, but also with my friends, at work, really just doing the days. Yet, full disclosure, every so often I just want some control over the outcome of the shot. I want my intentions recorded, my feelings directly translated into the image. When this comes over me I will take a self portrait using the camera remote - I’ll often record our family this way. It doesn’t have a specific timescale but it generally goes in a rhythm. A change of season, a moment when it strikes me that one of the kids has really changed in some way. A strong reminder to record my part in the narrative from my own perspective.