When Alli and I started planning her session with her little girl, Vienna, who was just about a year old, we knew we wanted to keep the shoot playful. Rather than asking Vienna, as curious and excited as she was, to sit still or pose for the camera, we thought it would be best to create a space for her to do what little ones do best: explore and let her curiosity run wild. Not only did this lead to a much easier (and more fun) shoot experience, the candid moments that came from this decision were sooo authentic, and it resulted in photos that simply could not be recreated otherwise.
As Alli had requested a primarily faceless session, wanting to document this stage of her daughter's life while keeping her face off social media, we focused on capturing the atmosphere and energy of the shoot day. Before moving out into the backyard, we started the shoot within their home.
Documenting the spaces that you see every day can be easy to overlook as unimportant, but those images become so meaningful with time! Alli had created the most beautiful bedroom for Vienna, and it was imperative to me that we get a photo or two of them within it, as well as the spaces around the house that they frequented; the kitchen, the piano in the living room, etc.
For such an intimate session, being in Alli & Vienna's own home made such a difference in the outcome of the images. As a familiar space, Vienna was completely at ease, surrounded by the things she knew and loved. We felt that we could simply spend time together, following her lead and seeing where the afternoon took us.
Once we were out in the backyard, we brought out the garden hose to see what Vienna would make of it. What followed was a whole lot of running around and screaming with joy; the two got completely soaked as they chased each other across the yard, and I got to photograph all those little reactions and interactions as they happened!
That's one of the things I love most about in-home documentary family sessions. You're not just creating photographs of what your family looks like... you're documenting what life actually looks like, in the place where so much of it happens.
Vienna won't be this little forever, and the way she interacts with her home will change as she grows. But these photographs will always hold a little piece of this chapter: an afternoon at home playing with her mom ;')
