Photosensitive Portraits

I've repeated this post on Father's Day for the last 5 years now as a way to honor and remember my own Dad...best wishes to all the Fathers (and all the Mothers who are both Mom AND Dad to their kids)!

Why I do what I do...

I love working with families - capturing their time together, a particular moment in their personal histories preserved so that they might look upon it and remember how it was, how they were. It's hard for me to describe just how much that means to me, to participate in this process, to play a part - I feel that it is such a privilege to be asked to create these "documents" of memory, to be allowed a glimpse into what makes each family unique and special.

I don't have alot of photos of my own family growing up (meaning my immediate family, my Mom and Dad, brothers and sisters). My Mom died when I was in my 20s and Dad passed several years ago - so the snapshots I've inherited mean the world to me. The photo at the very beginning of this entry is one of my most precious images. It was taken with my Dad's first digital camera (remember cameras with mini-floppy discs? Dad had one of the earliest Sonys and was very proud of it!) and was the last time I was with him; we were sitting in the Alpena, MI airport waiting for my flight to Detroit and then back to California. Dad passed away a few months after this image was taken. Even though it's just a snapshot - horrible overhead lighting, funky background, odd perspective - I love it and cherish it regardless of its faults. Because it reminds me just how much my Dad and I loved each other - the image is so much more than the sum of its parts.

Every time I photograph a father and child, I think of my Dad. I am so proud to be able to create an image that someone else will cherish, that someone else will hold dear - I am happy to hold my Dad's memory in this way. I was definitely thinking of my Dad when I created the second set of images of a father and son. There is so much great chemistry between those two! It was such a pleasure to work with them; it reminded me fully of why I do what I do.

Father's Day is coming up - be sure to give your Dad a big hug and make sure he knows how much you love him!