Why Grandparents In Pictures Matter | Bay Area Photographer

My grandmother, or farmor as they say in Swedish, avoided the camera whenever she could. When a camera was picked up she'd sneak off to the kitchen, suddenly unable to ignore the demanding call of the dirty dishes. In a pinch she'd duck behind whoever stood closest to her when there was a threat of a photo being taken.Needless to say, we don't really have a lot of pictures of her, let alone pictures of her with me and my sister.A good chunk of how I grew up was influenced by how she was as a person. She had a lot of anxiety issues (that were never properly addressed) and was constantly worried, which clearly trickled down to me. She had some spunk, but that came out on rare occasion.She passed away when I was in my 20s. I didn't think much of it then, but as I get older I find myself wanting to dig deeper into who she was – I need to believe that we are more than our restrictions. I crave to know more about what she was like in moments where she wasn't consumed by her worries.My fondest memories of her are from when she would have barely half a glass of wine, forget about her worries for an increment of time, and sing. It may not always have been at the most appropriate of times, but she looked so dang happy.If we were sick, farmor would fill us up with home-made blueberry juice. On cold days she'd call to tell me I should wear a second layer under my jeans – even when I wasn't a kid anymore.But – we don't have any pictures of farmor from these moments.Grandparents are part of our history. Pictures that tell us about who they are and what they were like can provide valuable clues into how we came to be who we are. They can give us strength to endure hard times, or they could give us the boost of willpower that's needed to change the way we do things.Luckily most grandparents are less worried about how they look in photos than my farmor was. They are excited to cuddle up with their brand new grandkid, to pull out a favorite board game for the tweens, or to share buttermilk-plum ice cream with a happy toddler in the mellow glimmer of the afternoon sun.Grandparents know that there are more important things to worry about than love handles and wrinkles – like missing out on being in photos all together.

Read more about why you should be in photos for your kids, or shoot me a message so we can talk about a session of your own.