documentary photography

my family - 2014

in

Cherish your human connections: your relationships with friends and family.
Joseph Brodsky

What to say about this year with the girls who are now older girls ... I cherished my human connectin so much that this year was more about the being there with them than the need/pull to document them with pictures. To be perfectly candid, I wasn't all that into it and neither were they. What's worked in the past doesn't fit any longer and so we will find a new way to explore and expand in the year ahead in a way that is a little more interactive and collaborative. This photograph conveys my sentiments - a passage through to the other side.

And yet there were these beauties which express all i could say and more about who these two are right now.

And here is the larger story - all the pages laid out in a way that tells their story this year.

unforgettable photographs

"photography is about appreciating parts of your life, and then documenting them. it's the process of stopping and saying ah...this is really special because this is only happening in this moment and this moment will be gone." ~  george lange

I happened to catch a segment "the unforgettable photograph" on the today show last week with a photographer talking bout his new book: the unforgettable photograph. And my mouth fell open as he began to talk about the importance of documenting moments, of capturing feelings and telling a story of how a moment feels rather than how you think it should look.

Let me say this again: here was an accomplished photographer telling a "today show" audience that it’s important to document life and how it feels; to tell your story and impression of life with photographs.

As this is the essence of why I photograph and the very core of what I offer, I sat with that for the better part of a day…actually for many days. Validation aside, i was deeply moved for my choice to stand by this vision even though it’s not always been easy or understood or in demand. i've been encouraged little by little to see more and more people interested in documentary and expressive work, choosing real life photographs over staged, retouched, photoshopped unrealistic save idealistic pictures.

I will continue to go rogue; to break free from ... to be shaped by the story of a moment...to be inspired by expressing how it feels and sharing that in a photograph.