Family Ties

The family seems such an obvious subject for photography; for so long the site of countless images documenting birthdays, parties and summer holidays. What distinguishes this view from any other, more rarefied view of the family? Does the selection of some split second moments rather than others reveal more inherent truths about human behaviour, or the family sphere? What is it that reveals greater truth in one moment over another? Does a child crying when she’s hurt herself reveal a greater truth about the family than the grinning faces of a family group who’ve been encouraged to shout, “cheese”? The photographer in me says yes, but I can hear my grandmother in my ear, “your photographs make me look so old and unattractive - why can’t you have some smiles in your photographs?”

Well, I get it. No-one wants to admit to fragilities in the glue that holds families together. But seeing them honestly and openly, to my mind, helps strengthen those bonds, rather than the opposite. But, how does a photographer be open and honest? How can the truth be documented? Is that achievable?

The plethora of family photographers now providing their services to families, chiefly those with children, testifies to the constant search for truth in the family space. But, to me, these documentaries, routinely taken over a single day, often spell out a similarly questionable truth as all those cheesy smiles in your uncle’s family pictures, or those traditional straight-laced smiling school portraits. There seems always to be parents playing in an idealised way with their kids, going on bike rides or messily helping make a cake; less posed, to be sure, but nevertheless still an edited (and idealised) version of family life. 

Truth is elusive, particularly in photography, despite appearances. And it’s likely that the truth about the family, as elusive as that is, is located somewhere between all these approaches to the family. I don’t have the answer. I take pictures of my own family, over and over, my friends and their families, over and over, then select moments that speak to me photographically, and which hint at the truth, whatever that is.