This is what I know for sure, all of us need the love of another human. Our bones crave to be held, our skin to be touched, our heart to be squeezed with love. The kind of love we seek is unconditional. It’s the kind of love that hurts and breaks and heals to become even stronger. It’s the kind of love that a parent has for their child.
This is why I photograph families. To me, there’s nothing more important on this earth to document.
If we were lucky, we felt the warmth on unconditional love as children. This parent/child love is fascinating to me because I believe it’s possibly the strongest form of love. This time is fleeting and we expect and encourage our babies to grow up and away to create their own families. While our children will always be the most important thing, our job as parents is to fall into the background as supporters of our kids’ own journeys. They will always love us, but not as much as we love them.
I’m experiencing this with my own children as teenagers. Those years where I held their tiny bodies close are behind me and I can hardly believe it. I hold them now but it’s not the same! Have you ever held a teenager? They squeeze me tight and then rush away to do important teenager things. I’m so glad I took thousands of photos when they were little because the memories can fade no matter how precious. One look at a photo of my baby nuzzled against my chest can reduce me to tears.
This feeling is what I channel with my families. I want to show them the love that I see in them. They are feeling the same things that I did for my little ones. I know they want to hold them close and never let go. I know the smell of their newborn’s head is better to them than any rose. I know that for a child, the best place on earth is in the arms of their parents. To be seen by them, acknowledged and validated. To be loved, unconditionally.
