The concept of whole life photography is one that I have mulled over for a few years. Back in 2010 I was working on a documentary photography book entitled, “Family Life”. As part of the early stages of this book, I had the opportunity to accompany a close friend to her first-ever ultrasound. This would be the first time her and her husband would get to see their first child.
My camera and I went into the examine room with them, and I asked the nurse if it would be fine for me to take photographs for the project I was working on. She looked at my friend, as if to say, “That’s a little strange”, but the nurse said it was fine if the parents were fine with it. I knew this wasn’t going to be any sort of typical family photo shoot.
My goal had been to show one of the earliest stages of family life, and while that in and of itself is remarkable what I witnessed was even more powerful. The images that came back spoke much more than I would have expected. The images captured one of the earliest moments of their child’s life. For a moment I thought, well, the sonogram also shows the earliest moments of their child’s life. However, these images, these moments I had captured were different. They showed the first moments of life as parents.
The joyous smile on my friend’s face showed just how much she had already fallen in love with her baby. The look of wonder and awe on her husband’s face grew to one of even deeper love for his wife and baby.
I recently saw a quote from photographer, Dragan Tapshanov, which says, “Photography is about capturing souls, not smiles”. I hope that that is what I am always able to accomplish with my work as a whole life photographer.
Whole life photography is about capturing the innate dignity of every person at any stage of life. Whole life photography is about being there to tell your life’s story. Whether it is capturing the moments of anxious butterflies before mom and dad see their child’s first ultra-sound or, years later, the anxious butterflies on that child’s wedding day as he waits to see his bride walk down the aisle. That said, life is about more than the happy moments of baptisms, quinceañeras, graduations and 50th wedding anniversaries; at some point we all must also say goodbye to a loved one.
Watching a loved one pass on to eternal life is never easy, but it is my hope that as a photographer I can accompany you and your family to capture and preserve forever the innate dignity of your loved one’s life. Whether that life has been long-lived surrounded by generations of family members or short-lived embraced in the arms of loving parents, it is my goal to help you pay tribute to your loved one’s life story.
While we all have and will continue to experience the joys and difficulties of life, we all know that life truly happens in all the in-between moments, the piano lessons, the family dinners, the tee-ball games, the family vacations and the nightly homework sessions. If it is a moment of your life’s story that you want to preserve then it is a moment for EternityBound Media.
For more information on EternityBound Media and the services I provide as a whole-life photographer please head to my website www.eternityboundmedia.com or find me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest.