Probably the
photography work closest to our hearts is our “Family Life” concept that we
have been developing over the last 18 months or so. I’d like to talk a little
about why we have chosen to move in this direction and why we feel it is so
important and meaningful.
When we as people
really think about what is the most valuable time in our family lives, often we
might initially think “holidays!”, time away from work or just relaxing. But if
we really look deeply into what the feeling is behind those things, it is
almost always because we do those things with the people we love most, our
immediate family members. Holidays are special because there is nobody and no
situation that needs to draw you away from those people for the week or two or
three that we might have “away”. We sometimes overlook the most obvious time,
and I think the most important of all: the day-to-day lives of family units.
This is the glue that binds everything together; the threads of meaning and
belonging that weave our sense of wellbeing, purpose, and bring the most
lasting joy to ourselves and our loved ones. And of course, the vast majority
of this happens in the home.
At home we also have
all the things – mementos, gifts and cards, the washing drying on
clothes-horses or radiators, our own beds, photograph albums – that make the
house a home and the central point of our family lives. Everything happens
there! From cooking and cleaning to loving embraces, game-playing,
potty-training, tantrums and laughter.
There are so many
photographers who do an excellent job of photographing families, but 99% of the
time these photos are taken in a relatively alien environment away from the
home. If we think about it, so much of what we call “ourselves” exists as much
as anything else in our environment; so if you take the family out of the
environment, you aren’t really capturing the whole picture.
Another really
important point is that while one family-member can photograph the others,
there is practically no opportunity for the family to see itself as a whole –
the whole dynamic of the family-unit. And of course these photos are usually
posed: “Say cheese!”… which is certainly a lovely way of producing a certain
kind of memento, but is completely other to what we achieve with our work.
What happens
On the day of the
photography, we arrive at your house at the agreed time. We will have asked you
when is a good time to come based on when you think you will be doing things
together which you really enjoy or you would especially like to be captured.
There is no posing here!
We simply ask that you
continue with your normal pattern for the day, while we interfere as little as
possible, simply observing and intuitively photographing. Cooking, eating,
playing with the children, playing games together, reading; whatever you
normally do, just do it. We will be there to get those special moments.
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We are extremely
excited about developing this work further. We enjoy nothing more in our work
than to see the connections between people, and we find that nowhere is this
more apparent or more touching than in the case of a loving family in its own
environment.
