When you think of family photos, most likely what comes to mind is something well manicured – specific outfits, a pretty location and some great images where hopefully everyone is looking in at least a couple! Is that what we all want? What if you want more than seeing how tall the kids were that year, or what if there are barriers to organizing the “perfect portrait”? Maybe you want to have your family photos preserve a little more about your current chapter.
The root of my photography has ALWAYS been to transport the viewer to a place. To recall the atmosphere, to remember the moments, and to feel it all deep in their hearts. This is how I have captured my own family as well because I never ever want to forget —
Who we were, what we did, and how we felt together
This is where documentary photography comes in: a style offering something wonderfully sentimental, and delightfully different!
What is Documentary Family Photography?
Documentary photography is very much about capturing candid, unscripted moments, allowing the focus to be on the beauty of the ordinary.
There are no posing or prompts, but we lean into genuine connection. I’d be joining you in your home, or a favourite place to be a quiet observer; to capture you through a thoughtful and creative lens. We forego perfection so we can just BE, and when we surrender to that, we get the most authentic images. The chaos and mess of life is welcome. It’s about remembering the current quirks, the favourite shirt, or stuffy, how the kids fit in your lap, what art was on the fridge at the time… all these details you wouldn’t get in a traditional session in a pretty field.
What might that look like? The possibilities will range for every family, but could be anything like a slow Saturday morning with coffee and books, packing a lunch and heading to the best park, a day at camp or on the lake, even a yearly tradition of baking with extended family. Think of the little things that speak most to your heart.
Having these photos serves to enhance the memories you build around growing up and family life and each session is unique and true to you.
Why do a documentary session?
Think of a place that you can no longer go back to. Maybe it’s a grandparents’ home, the house you grew up in, or maybe it’s even an era of your life that you miss, or loved one you yearn for. Do you revisit these places in memory? If I could go back to my grampa’s place ONE more time, just to see his things, and him, and the house as it always was… I would. All my family has left of this extraordinary person and place are shared stories, and the pictures. The tales our family reminisces on bring comfort, and the photos have been my way to revisit, and share this world with my children who never got to experience this place.
So, if you’re someone who romanticizes the little joys in life, or you’re feeling time slip by and you want to grasp on: this is for you.
Maybe you’re someone who has put off photos from worries of kids not cooperating or not being able to sit and smile, but still want to document your current era: here’s an opportunity to try something outside the box.
You want your kids to have a record of their life — where EVERYONE is in the photos. We know there’s always one parent who takes all the pictures and is in absolutely none (in my family, that is me).
So if you feel the call to have your sweet little life documented, let’s connect