Sunday, 14 October 2012

This is Wednesday

www.elkedous.com.au

Ok, so it's Monday today but this session was on a Wednesday and that's the point. Sometimes it's nice to do a project for yourself, to be given the seed of an idea and a reason to do it and then to make it your own.


I have three young children and we live in a fairly normal part of suburbia, we have a small old house and a big backyard. It's not the prettiest of gardens, it's a little unkempt, toys litter the lawn, there are oranges lying on the ground and the neighbours houses can be seen over the fence, but we love it.


I wanted to photograph my children at play in our garden, to show how we love the veggie patch and running through the clothes on the line. I wanted to show the lovely afternoon light that filters through the big trees in Tom's yard behind us and just how much fun you can have with three delightful children any day of the week. 


They are learning about caring for new plants and where their food comes from and they are learning to care for each other as well. It warms my heart to see them looking after, appreciating and enjoying each other.


I love the giggles they share... 


... and I love that I have these photos of them. Photographs of them just being themselves, at home, in their own environment. I hope that these images of a carefree childhood will be some of the ones they treasure when they are grown. 




There were many other photographers around the world who took the same seeds as me (sunflare and Wednesday) and made them their own. To view the work of this amazing collection of photographers and to see their corner of the world visit some, or all(!), of the blogs below. 

It's a wonderful thing!



www.annecooperphotography.blogspot.com.au/

www.bambino-art.co.uk/blog.php

Wednesday, 19 September 2012

Treasure

It's a wonderful thing, to be able to do what you love. 

I love photography.

My father was and is an avid amateur photographer and my childhood was well documented in images. There are photos of my sisters and I as cross eyed infants, of birthday cake-smeared grins, of camping in the bush, of sports carnivals and swimming meets and dance concerts. I love looking back through those photographs and even more at old photographs of my parents and grandparents.

There is something magical about the way a photograph can stop a moment in time and keep it for future generations to see.

If I wonder what kind of a boy my father was I can hold a photograph of him dressed as an Indian with his brothers and sister in their backyard in Germany and see for myself. The big smile is the same and the adventurous glint in the eye was there even then. Photographs are such precious things.

Perhaps it is this early valuing of images that has led me to photography, perhaps it is my creative heart that has made it possible (for there is a vast difference between just taking a photograph and creating a beautiful image) but here I am, now a parent myself, helping others to create family treasures; images of loved ones that can be passed on and treasured by those perhaps not even born yet.

I love photography. It is a wonderful thing.