A Family in Portrait

I don’t even remember his name.  I haven’t asked my parents, but it seems doubtful they would remember either.  It was so long ago, so many life changes have transpired between now and then.  So much living.  So much breathing.  So much being.

But I will always remember him.

I will remember him for the evening he spent with us.
I will remember him for the subdued chaos  that led up to his arrival.
I will remember the three moments that are forever cemented in time, because of him.
He was our photographer.

I think my Dad made the connection through his workplace. Maybe a friend of a friend? We were young. With little sister probably three years old, that puts me around nine. The timeline makes sense with the upright piano spotlighted in our photos and the matching calico jumpers that my Grandpa had made for the three of us girls, and the matching tie and suspenders we’d found somewhere along the way.

We didn’t smile. The technology wasn’t  as antiquated as the frozen stoicism of the earliest films, but this was almost twenty years  ago.  The age of digital ease was barely even in sight; the process to set up the lights, frame the shot, expose the film was a monumental ordeal, and unworthy of laughter.

So with no smiles, matching outfits, and a piano-in-our-living-room, the moment is frozen.  There’s one framed photo of the family, one of the whole family, and one of just the kids.  And that’s all.   Seriously.  Just three photos.

And now I’m the photographer who no one will remember (well, I can hope they do…but  its a lofty dream :P). I’m taking the photos that will elicit overwhelming nostalgia in fifteen or twenty years.  I’m just a nobody.

But I am somebody.   I am giving my client-friends visual memories, showing the stories they will share with their children’s children. Family. Together. Laughing. Loving.  Making memories, living their story. Doing – together – the things they love.

Like this photo I took of Andrew & Kelsy’s family at Williams Park in Langley, BC.

Together. Laughing. Loving.

Miles won’t remember the photographer.  Koen might remember the day, but definitely not me.  Jude will look at the photo and think how incredibly small he used to be.  But, really, none of that matters.  All that matters is the moment that is frozen in time — the togetherness, the laughter, and the family as it was on this particular day in September.

And that, my friends, is why I am a photographer and why I love taking family portraits.  Because it’s family.  And in 15 years, they will remember who they were and enjoy who they will be.

P.S. The move from North Carolina, U.S.A. to British Columbia, Canada is complete and I’m open for business in the Lower Mainland!  Want to know why I came to BC? Well, I went to Africa and met a Canadian and became a bride and roadtripped across the continent with my husband. Simple enough, eh?  =)