I read this article this morning from a photographer on a regret she's made as a photographer and a mom - not getting in photos with her children due to her own insecurities. I can relate to this just from being a girl and from being the photographer in the family. We always have tons of pictures of Jason on vacation, but good ones of me are rare.
I've tried to get better since having a meltdown after a trip to Italy where the only pictures I was in were unflattering. I wasn't liking my body at the time and didn't feel like it was fair that I always tried to frame my friends and family so that they would look good, but then no effort went into photos taken of me. Really it wasn't anyone's fault but my own because I hadn't voiced how I felt until that moment, so things have been better since, but I do have to make a conscious effort to hand the camera over.
As we welcome our first child, I think this will be more important than ever. I liked the line of this article that stated:
"Photographs help children tell themselves the narrative of their lives, of how their parents loved them and how they were once small and then they grew and changed and prospered. Photographs stake a claim to our past–it was us! we were there!–that let us know that we matter."
I believe this to be so true. I myself, like the photographer that wrote this article, treasure photos of myself when I was little with my parents. Those photos matter so much more than the ones of just myself as a kid. SO learn with me and get out from behind the camera!
I've tried to get better since having a meltdown after a trip to Italy where the only pictures I was in were unflattering. I wasn't liking my body at the time and didn't feel like it was fair that I always tried to frame my friends and family so that they would look good, but then no effort went into photos taken of me. Really it wasn't anyone's fault but my own because I hadn't voiced how I felt until that moment, so things have been better since, but I do have to make a conscious effort to hand the camera over.
As we welcome our first child, I think this will be more important than ever. I liked the line of this article that stated:
"Photographs help children tell themselves the narrative of their lives, of how their parents loved them and how they were once small and then they grew and changed and prospered. Photographs stake a claim to our past–it was us! we were there!–that let us know that we matter."
I believe this to be so true. I myself, like the photographer that wrote this article, treasure photos of myself when I was little with my parents. Those photos matter so much more than the ones of just myself as a kid. SO learn with me and get out from behind the camera!