Why Kids and Pets?
“You realize you have chosen the two most difficult subjects to photograph, right?”
I’ve lost track of how many times this question (or some form of it) has been posed to me. I know what they mean by it; kids and pets can be tricky to photograph, as they never sit still! But the thrill of the chase with my camera is part of what makes each session memorable in its own way.
Choice of subject matter is essentially endless and anyone choosing to photograph a specific genre will have their own reasons, tastes, and style for their subject of choosing. I admire the incredibly talented landscape, food, architectural, real estate (just to name a few) photographers out there and will never say never about learning and perfecting that craft but for me the meaning behind that “chase” for the family I am working with is real. I can absolutely relate….
I LOVE that I have about a zillion old family photographs in my possession.
I know what my parents looked like as kids and what my grandparents and their siblings looked like as kids. I know what type of cool cars they drove, what their holiday décor looked like and where they took their families on vacation. I laugh at the goofy images of my siblings and I in every horribly silly plastic Halloween costume, dance recital tutu and our finest BIG hair moments! I treasure the old family wedding photos and grandfathers’ military photos that were saved and passed down generation to generation.
The images document my family’s story through the years. For better and yes sometimes for worse (we ALL have some of those awful awkward teen school photos kicking around!). But, ultimately I wouldn’t trade them for the world and I bet you wouldn’t either.
In happy times such as weddings doesn’t the display of old childhood photos of the bride and groom give everyone a good laugh, a nostalgic glimpse of the past and possibly a peek at what their future family might look like? In times of tragedy with the loss of a property or worse a loved one (person or pet) what is the first thing we all go looking for? The old photos. They become priceless to us in such times when we need to laugh (and sometimes cry) about days gone by.