I began looking through the shoots I have been doing during my project to select a selection of suitable images that fit my brief.
I needed to choose images that showed the importance of an image within the family album photographed to a professional standard, by reviewing information I had gathered through interviews on the ‘ideal’ family photograph.
My main purpose was to create family photos that would be suitable to show to potential clients so these images needed to be professional images that I could display in a photo book for visual purposes.
I started to look for images that represented the points brought forward through my surveys on the ideal family album photograph;
I began by looking for images that represented a happy smiley face, I found that the most popular aspect to family photographs was children and happiness so the below image represents just that.
I had decided to choose this image firstly because of genuine happy smile from the toddler, we like to look back at images that make us smile and the most common cause of a smile is another smile! I also decided to use this photo due to the composition, I aimed to get in close and capture the details of the toddlers face capturing the emotions and getting the detail of the eyes. I had used this image as one of the main images on the cover of my photo book, the bright red vibrant colour attracts attention, the idea was to capture the eye to draw you into the photograph.
Secondly I looked through my images for photographs that represent a bond between family members and had chosen the following to show this;
These tow image I have chosen are both images that show a close bond between family members, the first is of a father and daughter, I captured this image whilst they were enjoying an imitate moment together, the father was cradling his daughter when they began to rub noses, you can see the emotion in this image through the soft eyes and facial expressions of the father, the bond in this image is pronounced.
The second image of a father ans son as like the first image shows plenty of emotion, this time the bond is shown with a happy glace between them both, you can see the pair looking at each other with a happy glance, this image was taken during play acting between the two, they were engaged in each others company and this you can see in the image.
I also decided to use images that showed intricate details, when speaking to mums with newborns many had explained that the tiny feet and fingers were important wen it came to photo shoots of newborns, following this I had decided to use this image;
By getting a close image of the feet I am able to capture the fine details on the feet and using the hand of the mother I can emphasise the sheer tiny size of the newborn I am photographing.
As well as the details of the newborn I also wanted to use an image from one of my newborn shoots that shows the baby sleeping, both the sleeping baby and then nude photograph are common representatives of a new born image.
The photograph shows the sleeping baby that the mother will remember, by taking images of the new born in the nude I am representing the pure baby image that we often picture when it comes to a new baby, having him in a comfortable natural pose adds to a natural scene.
I was also told that preserving memories was important within the family album, I had decided to use an image taken from a 1st birthday shoot to show this.
This image I had decided to use was from a shoot for a birthday girl, not only does it portray a birthday scene with the use of background items but it shows the bond between a grandmother and granddaughter, with the genuine eye contact and natural pose.
in my first shoot I was asked to create an image that depicted both new and old, with the memorabilia of a loved one who has passed away.
the image above was taken with the idea of subtly adding the tattoo in remembrance of a relative with the photograph of a new arrival, bringing two worlds together. I feel that this is a powerful image with a very personal meaning.
As some people had also said that possessions were also of importance when creating images for the family album I wanted to use an image I had taken during a photo shoot with a toddler and her dad, he had asked that multiple images be taken in different rooms to show the belongings they owned.
The image taken above was to illustrate the room of his daughter, by choosing this image I am able to show how possessions are used to create family memories through photography.
And finally I had chosen to use a full family image, this was created as many people had said that the family unit as a whole was important in the family album, this shows all the family together and the close bond that they have.
The image I have above was a posed family photograph that was requested by the father, he wanted a professional looking family photograph that portrayed a secure family unit.
All of the images above show all the aspect of a family album as described by families themselves, my set of images show the meaning of family photographs and the importance that they have, each image is unique in its own way, taken to represent a feeling or desire of the family themselves, but taken in a way that can be seen as professional portraiture. these images will be used not only in my project but in my pursuit into family photography.
kirstywallwork 