I don’t know about you, but I love seeing people address their “failures” and speak out about things they struggle with. It’s easier to relate to those who accept that they aren’t perfect and we all need a ittle more real talk in a world where Instagram filters are distorting our reality!
Especially mums seem to constantly worry about “doing it right” and keeping up with juggling work and raising kids. They don’t always see how well they’re actually doing! This is why I love what I do – I get to show you what I see (and how kickass you parents are)!
Photos that show what family feels like
Let me introduce you to my friend Lara.
Lara runs a business, a female founders network, alongside being a mum of 2.
Apart from being an absolute boss, she’s very vocal about the struggles of being an ambitious working mum with way too little time. From the outside – my perspective – she’s nailing it all. From the inside – her perspective – it probably looks a lot different.
Recently I had the wonderful opportunity to photograph what a morning in Lara’s house looks like – on a day when her husband was working upstairs and she entertained the kids while getting ready for a weekend trip.
To me, this was everything I always want to do: An intimate in-home family session, documenting real life as it happens.
To her, it was another morning where she couldn’t get the work for her business done like she had planned. Yet, she takes the time to do some colouring with her 5-year-old, feeding the baby and packing bags, making sure that both her children get the attention they need and are happy, content and fed.
The way her children look at her and their dad is literally everything. They all adore each other, even when things don’t always go right. How lucky am I to be allowed to photograph that?
Over the next few years, when these kids grow up and start relying less on their parents, these photos will grow in value. While they are beautiful now, they will be priceless in the future. I truly believe that!
This is what Lara posted online after receiving a few preview images:
“It’s hard, exhausting, soul destroying (at times), we are broken, we are tired, short tempered, fire fighting, voice raising, foot stomping, tear crying, shadows of our formal youthful selves, more serious and less exciting, but we are family and our hearts are full”
And this is why I think photos are so important. They show us what we can’t always see from the inside. They’re a mirror to us, freezing moments in time, so we can relive them in the future.
Life isn’t perfect and neither are you. Perfection is an allusion anyway so stop being so hard on yourself. You’re doing great just as you are!
Now let me show you a few more of my favourites from this morning in Lara’s house:
What does a typical morning look like in your house?
What would it feel like to have that documented? And I mean not just how it would feel now but imagine looking through these images in 5, 10 or 20 years. When the kids are all grown-up and you might have moved on from this place that is your home today.
Our past impacts our future. It shapes who we are and will be and having visual proof of how life used to be and look and feel like, can help us understand not just ourselves but the people around us that shaped us.
Would you like to know how I could capture this for you? Reach out now for a non-commital call to talk about your family and how you’d like them to remember what their life feels like.
