When you think about family photographs, what comes to mind?
Perhaps it’s everyone dressed in coordinating outfits, sitting or standing together, looking towards the camera with big smiles.
Or maybe it’s a family in the park or at the beach, around sunset with warm flattering light. Everyone is laughing, walking towards the camera and huddling together, happy and excited.
There’s nothing wrong with wanting photographs like that. But that’s not quite what I do.
My approach to family photography is documentary. I’m interested in the things that happen in between the posed and arranged happy moments – the interactions, the chaos, the little details and the relationships that make your family yours.
And that also means I don’t retouch your photographs to make them look more perfect than they are.
Documentary doesn’t mean unflattering
Let’s get one thing straight: documentary family photography doesn’t mean I don’t care about how you look in your photographs. Quite the opposite. I want you to love them. I want you to see yourself in them and recognise the beauty in the way you interact with your children, the way you laugh together or the way you hold each other.
I’m still making deliberate choices about light, composition, perspective and timing. I’m looking for beautiful light, interesting angles and those little moments that tell a story. I’m not simply pointing my camera at whatever happens and hoping for the best.
But there’s a difference between making a beautiful photograph and changing the people in it to make them look a certain way.
I won’t slim you down in post-production, smooth away every wrinkle, reshape your face or digitally change your appearance. I won’t turn a tired expression into a big smile or remove every little imperfection.
That’s not because I can’t – I could but I choose not to, because I don’t think those things need changing.
Your family is allowed to look like your family
We spend so much time worrying about how we look in photographs. We might feel self-conscious about our bodies, our skin, our hair or the way we look when we’re not posing.
And I get it because I feel the same. Being in front of a camera can feel uncomfortable, especially when you’re not used to it.
But I don’t want you to feel that you need to look a certain way to be photographed. You don’t need to lose weight first, get a haircut, buy a new wardrobe or wait until you feel more confident about your appearance.
Your body is allowed to look like your body. Your face is allowed to show your age. Your children are allowed to have messy hair, dirty knees and expressions that aren’t always camera-ready. These things are part of you. They’re part of your family.
Of course, I still make adjustments to the photographs. I work on exposure, colour and contrast to create a consistent look and feel across your gallery. But that’s different from changing someone’s appearance or removing everything that makes a photograph feel real.
Photographs are a record of a moment in time
Think about your family as it is right now. The way your toddler still reaches for your hand. The way your child curls up on the sofa next to you. The little gap between their front teeth, the hair that never quite stays in place, the way they fit perfectly into your arms.
You might not think much of these things today. They might even be the things that occasionally drive you mad. But one day, they’ll be different.
Your children will grow. Their faces will change. Your own body will change. You’ll move house, routines will shift and the everyday details that currently make up your life will become memories.
And that’s one of the things I love about documentary family photography. It gives you the opportunity to look back at a particular time in your life, not just how everyone looked, but how it felt to be there.
I don’t want to give you a more perfect version of your family. I want to give you photographs that help you remember the family you actually were.
Is documentary family photography right for you?
I think it’s important to be honest about this because documentary family photography isn’t for everyone.
If what you’re looking for is a gallery of perfectly posed photographs, with everyone looking at the camera, smiling and looking their absolute best, my approach might not be what you’re after. And that’s absolutely fine.
But if you’d rather have photographs of your children being themselves, of the way you interact as a family, of the ordinary moments that make up your everyday life, then we might be a good fit.
You need to be comfortable with the idea that not everyone will be looking at the camera. That there might be a few funny faces, a messy living room or a moment when someone isn’t particularly happy. That your photographs won’t be digitally polished into something they weren’t.
It doesn’t mean your photographs won’t be beautiful. Instead, it means their beauty comes from something other than perfection.
So, if you’re willing to let go of the idea that everyone needs to look perfect, and instead allow me to capture your family as you are, I’d love to photograph you. Because the real thing is worth remembering, too.
