Your Story Matters

I pulled up into the parking lot, quite nervous about meeting doctors for the first time in years. (Self care has not been at the top of my list, which I decided to remedy this year.) I hurry inside to get away from the chilly drizzle, and head to the reception desk to check in for my first appointment. Oh yes, I had the pleasure of being referred to two different doctors that day.The first appointment is terrible.  I don't quite feel heard or seen. Eyes red and puffy from crying, I walk back to the reception desk to check in for my next appointment."Oh how nice, you get all your appointments out of the way in the same day!"If the receptionist had glanced up, she would have seen that I was a mess. Her perfectly innocent conversational statement didn't take into account the doctor I already had to see just to get these two appointments, the fact that I still had to come back for lab tests, or that the doctor gave me a referral for some specialist in over a month's time! Oh, and that I'd have to come back for a biopsy in two months, because there were no available times right now.(Don't worry friends, it's not that kind of biopsy.)And I just thought, I never want my clients to feel unseen after they've had a session with me. It's easy to think that newborn and family sessions are cookie-cutter occasions that photographers waltz through in a comfortable routine, without taking into account who their clients are.No.You deserve to feel like who you are and what you're going through was seen and felt.Your life should be approached with curiosity and empathy, and I want to create a safe space for you to have your picture taken – which is probably why I gravitated towards documentary family photography over everything else.Your everyday struggles, small victories, and the invisible goodness matters. How you are doing matters, and how you got here matters.Your story? It matters.