Documentary Family Photography

Lockdown Photos 2021

Yesterday I took photos at home, of my family. I did not take Lifestyle Family photos, I took Documentary style photos. There is a world of difference, and taking photos of your family at home, is a stark reminder of those differences.

I see Family Lifestyle photography as a snapshot of the best version of ourselves. It is a chance to dress up and have fun, perhaps to clean up our house and make it look pretty, maybe go out to the woods, play a game together and hug. Its an opportunity to enjoy photos of ourselves actually looking like we get on!

Documentary family photography is us, our lives, our homes, our relationships, just as they are. It is about finding the beauty in the imperfection of our lives, in the mess of those little moments, in the tears and the heartache, laughs and silliness.

One of the most poignant moments yesterday for me was my feeling about our larder, otherwise known as the food cupboard or goodies cupboard. My son stood by it getting his breakfast, it was open and I was taking a photo and I really, really wanted to shut it. It is very messy, I’m starting to come to the realisation the way I keep cupboards is a reflection of my mind. However, I stopped myself shutting it and I thought about our larder when we were young in the 70s, in our orange and brown kitchen in Lampits, Hertfordshire. I tried to remember how it was placed, then I started thinking about getting my breakfast in the morning, quite often Rice Crispies, and the year we had an ant infestation and the cerial boxes had little inhabitants. And lastly I thought that I will ask my mum and dad if they have any photos of us in the kitchen (Sadly I discovered that we do not).

And that is the point of documentary style photography, and why I love it, more than any other style. Each is a memory, in its rawest form, it is not a family in their best clothes that they have probably never worn before. It is siblings in their PJs that they love and carried on wearing for probably a year more than they should have, because they were soft and had Chewbacca on the front. It’s children playing with their toys on the stairs as the house is being renovated and things are always in the hallway. It’s a teenager hanging sideways off a chair looking at their phone on the floor, cause that’s the position that they find comfy. And it’s a very, very messy larder that the kids sneak things from when they think their mother does not know (she ALWAYS knows). 

I will put these photos together in an album and frame a few for our wall. I have a new album supplier that makes stunning products and a new framer who hand frames beautifully. I keep up to date with our wall art, though the albums take me longer so I need to consciously find the time, it is worth it. I will look at this album when my children are older. I will remember how hard Lockdown 3 was, and I will remember the heartache and the difficulties that this time of our lives brought, but I will also remember those small moments of beauty and joy, and my children will look at these photos in years to come, perhaps when I am no longer here, and they will also remember.