This is a rather complicated existential question, so let me be more specific. Why, after ten years of working as a commercial photographer and stylist am I starting a whole new website and blog devoted to family and portrait photography clients?

 The short answer is that I had a baby. Then I had another baby. And between all this I realized a few things. 

1) There is a strange, repetitive standard for family photography that doesn’t really feel… special. At least to me. I’m not sure where it all comes from, who decides what Pinterest foists upon us, but I cannot tell you how many times I’ve walked through the park and seen one photographer or another rallying the latest troop- a pregnant mom in some shade beige dress, dad in brown or gray pants and suspenders, and other young children dressed to match, someone holding an ultrasound…. I can’t help but pause with the stroller and watch the whole ordeal. First the posed backlit shot, the shot where everyone is finally allowed to be silly. Dad tosses the two year old in the air, all the older kids touch mom’s round belly… I have nothing against anyone who likes and wants this for themselves. But I’ve never been one to follow trends. 

2) Having beautiful photos of my children is something that I am always grateful for. I didn’t think it would matter. I absolutely love the day-today pictures, the ones of moments I remember happening, the ones that you can really only take yourself unless you have a lifestyle photographer move in with you for the weekend and forget they are there- and most of us don’t have any interest in doing that. Everything beyond our cellphone streams is just an unnecessary luxury. My kids happen to have two photographer parents, so we’re very lucky in this respect- we have a ton of very fantastic photographs to go back to over and over. But even with all the amazing action shots, the over-documented watermelon consumption, the black and white temper tantrums, I still find enormous value in the few times I bothered to think something through, dress everyone up a little, pull out a backdrop or trek out somewhere unusual, and create something based on reality, but that would decidedly have never really happened on its own. It’s not that these shots are posed- anything I take of my children rarely is- and it’s not that they’re conceptual and artsy. It’s that they were done slowly with the intention of creating something beautiful, unique, and meaningful and they truly stand out when it comes to images I want printed and framed and treasured forever.

 A portrait has always been a luxury item. Before photography, it meant sitting for a painting. Even with early photography, it meant sitting for a decent amount of time, certainly long enough to give up trying to force a smile. You got one image. There weren’t hundreds from the day sitting in the cloud waiting to be posted to social media. There weren’t thousands from the year on your phone. You got one to pass down to remember one very special milestone. Of course, most of us have grandparents and even great grandparents who have passed down much larger numbers of photos, stuff on inexpensive film, random slides that never got developed, books of images loosely attached to decidedly non-acid-free paper. Despite all that, there are usually still only a few that really stand out. A few favorites that forever embed an image of an ancestor in your brain. My favorite photo of my grandmother- the one that flashes into my head every time I see her- is a simple shot of her seated at a red topped kitchen table- one of those 1950s dinette sets- in a red dress with red lipstick, and the most amazing red, platform heels I’ve ever seen. I don’t think it was set up, but who knows. It certainly captured how she would want to be remembered. 

Which is to say, that’s why I’m here- to create the image you want to be remembered by. Or the image you want to help capture your children’s fleeting childhood. Or your quirky family dynamic in one picture. Because I would want that for me, and I would be delighted to give that to you.

If that all resonates with you, drop me a line– I’d love to chat. 

*****Kayt