Pictures Documentary Family Photographers Are Drawn To Make

I asked a few family photojournalists from around the globe to answer some questions about the work they do – and I feel honored that so many wanted to participate! Here's the third question in the series:

What kinds of pictures are you drawn to make?

LIA EDWARDS | MUNICH FAMILY PHOTOGRAPHER

I am drawn to funny moments - the crazy stuff kids do (especially when their parents are not looking). I am always working to capture those exaggerated expressions that speak to each child's unique character as well as the quieter tender moments between family members.

I don't approach a session with any fixed ideas about what I want to capture. I just let life happen, enjoy what unfolds in front of me and capture it as beautifully as I can.

NATASHA KELLY | MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA FAMILY PHOTOGRAPHER

That's a hard one for me to answer. I don't really have my finger on what type of pictures I like to make, it's more intuitive. But looking over my work I guess I am drawn to a wide range of images - from emotion to chaos to regular quiet moments. I guess I am drawn to the most regular, mundane moments!

I do love a good sibling fight shot!

CELINA BAILEY | MONTREAL FAMILY PHOTOGRAPHER

Personally I love to capture interactions and I am a sucker for movement. Usually facial expressions that show some kind of emotions are the photos I like the most, it can be happiness, boredom or anger. I love it when a photo can give you a glimpse into the persons personality, that is what I am the most drawn to. I think the best way to achieve that is through documentary photography; once the person feels like they can be themselves, then their true personalities shine through. I also believe that those traits can be seen in the person's environment, in what they choose to wear, eat, what type of books and hobbies they have.

Documenting the person in their real environment gives a greater sense of who they truly are and what their story is.

KYM VITAR | LOS ANGELES FAMILY PHOTOGRAPHER

Oh that's easy, the kids and parents all intertwined in one another. Whether it be because they are in a tickle giggle fight, or because someone is being comforted after a fall, or in trouble and being removed from a situation. I love seeing the arms and legs and not knowing where one starts and the other ends.

I am also drawn to capture when children are in awe of their parents. Be it preparing a meal, building a lego tower, or tying their shoes for them. I love seeing that mystical look in a child's eye and seeing the gears process in their heads of "how did they do that?".

We as parents miss that look so often because we are focused on what we are doing, or frustrated in having to do it for the 1 billionth time.

JULIA ERZ | GERMANY FAMILY PHOTOGRAPHER

I am obsessed with images they are showing subjects doing multiple things - complicated composition.

BURCU CETIN | ANKARA, TURKEY FAMILY PHOTOGRAPHER

In general, I really hope my photographs make the viewers feel connected in one way or another when they look at them. I want them to either make an emotional connection to the image or an attraction to the artistic nature or beauty of the image. Personally, I'm drawn to make photos that make my heart sing, and make me and my family remember. Because I yearn to hold on. We yearn to hold on.

On the other hand, deep inside, the images I create for my child are actually my way of saying "I Love You So", "You are beautiful" and "Thank You" to my child.

My love letters and "thank you" notes. There are always two people in every image; The Seer and The Seen. The Seer is the witness, the one who sees and/or knows. My photographs, at the same time, are "me" seeing "him". My eyes. They are pure and raw representations of how I see him and feel him, how I put my ear down close to his soul and listen hard, how I hear him, smell him, and touch him, how he fills my soul and world with so much joy, love and goodness. So, I hope he can look at them one day and see the unseeable in those photographs, see "me" seeing him and feel that immense love and beauty beyond description that I feel for him. And with each image, I'm writing our family history, our boy's own history, all the things that has been experienced a long time ago. Therefore, I want my photographs to support my boy's own memory and tell a bit about who he was when he was little, and hope my child see himself through photographs; not only how he looked like at that specific time but also who actually he was. Our connections to our families are so important, they are parts of us even from far far far back. That is why so many of us want to reconnect with our pasts to help our present. There are obituaries for past family members that can be looked up (click for info) so we can see where we come from and even find people we didn't even know about! That can influence the pictures we take too, especially if a family is from all over the world.

"It's been said that a picture is worth a thousand words. If this is indeed true, think what great storytelling potential visuals have." - Oded Wagenstein, The Visual Storyteller

Documenting my family, from the little things to the big things and everything in between, is the best way to save who he is now, for the person he will become. So, I want my photographs help him to write his stories and remember his memories, and let him connect his past to his "now".

MINNA RIDDERSTOLPE | SWEDEN FAMILY PHOTOGRAPHER

I tend to really fire away when I see messy moments develop in front of me and and when I cull the photos I am always drawn to faces with funny expressions. And I am always training my skills to become a better photographer when it comes to complicated compositions with at many different subjects in it. That is a constant challenge. It is so easy to just shoot at f1.8 and get nice isolated portraits with a smooth background.

But I don't want easy anymore.