Why Family Photojournalists Make Unposed Family Photos

I asked a few family photojournalists from around the globe to answer some questions about the work they do – and I feel honored that so many wanted to participate! Here's the second question in the series:

Why do you choose to make unposed family images?

NATASHA KELLY | MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA FAMILY PHOTOGRAPHER

To me, it's not a choice, it's what speaks to me. It's what is real and authentic to me. The idea of living up to someone else's idea of perfect really gets to me. I want people to see that 'perfect' is relative. I want to be able to show families that what they are doing, day in and day out, is more than enough.

Real life is enough.

BURCU CETIN | ANKARA, TURKEY FAMILY PHOTOGRAPHER

Firstly because the life itself is always on the go, and you cannot assume a static attitude against something moving, something fluid. It is as simple as that.

And because my driving force behind the camera is: LIFE; "to preserve life in the act of living". When I shoot, I am inspired by the inherent BEAUTY at the heart of the ordinary MOMENTS, that are literally fleeting. They are here now and gone the next minute. It is mind blowing! Photography is my way of SEEing, APPRECIATing, and RECORDing that beauty that unfolds right in front of my eyes, those precious little moments that make my heart to swell with so much Warmth and Love, Joy and Gratitude. So, what I urge to record is simply the everyday memories/moments/stories that this precious life give us and that nothing on earth can make them come back again. In short,

"You just have to live and life will give you pictures" - Henri Cartier-Bresson

Pictures full of life.

Secondly, because the thing I value most in photography is being able to catch the moment's spirit or soul as well as my subject's. I love to shoot when my subject is truly being himself, immersed in whatever it is (s)he is doing in his/her own world; when (s)he is unconscious of me and my camera's gaze, and his/her spirit unfolds in its full richness. There, you're just bearing witness to a simple but real and deeper moment/truth in that part of time and space. The moment a person cares about the photographer's eye, s(he) starkly becomes aware of his/her body, mind, and environment and the shot slips beyond the sincerity.

 CELINA BAILEY | MONTREAL FAMILY PHOTOGRAPHER

Oh, that is a good question! I think it’s simply because I want to be able to remember exactly how life was. I also want to give my children and their children a glimpse into what it was like growing up and a piece of our family history.

I like to document those moments that would otherwise be forgotten; the small moments and the moments in-between the big ones.

Whenever I look through my old albums from when I was growing up, my favorite photos are the natural and unposed ones. The ones of me and my sister playing in our room or eating breakfast in our kitchen. I love seeing where we grew up and what was playing on the tv and stuff like that. I feel like I want that for my children too.

I also started documenting my children when I got tired of them being so unhappy with me taking their photos; making them stop what they were doing for a smile, some pretty light or scenery. More often than not I would get attitude and grumpy faces. Now I catch them with genuine smiles, real laughter and their personalities shine through so much more. I get a glimpse into who they really are. 

KYM VITAR | LOS ANGELES FAMILY PHOTOGRAPHER

While I still do quite a bit of “lifestyle”photography, I prefer unposed documentary family photography because it brings out the true emotions and personalities of a family.  As a mother myself, I know the stress of planning family portraits. The coordinating outfits and “You better smile at the camera or ELSE” feelings, and it doesn't always evoke positive memories when I look at those photos! Of course I LOVE those perfect photos to send out for our friends and families, but they are not who WE are. But when I see candid images captured of my children, it brings me back to the giggles or the sense of accomplishment, or the emotions of defeat, the true connections to my children and the events at hand. I don’t only want to remember the happy/good days in life.

Sometimes, the attitudes and tears, the scrapes and fights, the tantrums followed by the apologetic loving embrace, remind us of how we became who we are. 

I choose to be a documentary family photographer to provide those same connections and emotions for other families. I want families to know and truly BELIEVE that your everyday life is just as important to capture as the annual Christmas card photo/ “memorable” moments in life! There is nothing to be embarrassed of when your house is messy or your kids are fighting. There is nothing to hide when you need to fold laundry while your little ones play on the floor next to you. You are beautiful when you snuggle up and read to your kids, and your family is perfect, even when the kids aren’t color coordinated in new clothes! 

MINNA RIDDERSTOLPE | STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN FAMILY PHOTOGRAPHER

I don’t feel comfortable telling people what to do, so posing and directing families is hard for me. I have tried it and even if it turned out good it is too mentally exhausting for me and I want to take more than just family portraits. 

I am drawn to the rawness of parenthood. I am not a romantic person, I am a realistic, tired mom with two kids and I've always had a darker sense of humor.

Through documentary family photography I can express my view on family life: that it is hard, messy, funny and lovely - all mixed together in a big pile of dirty body parts.

JULIA ERZ | GERMANY FAMILY PHOTOGRAPHER

For me the documentary approach has such a deep meaning, it is so authentic, so emotional. And it is hard to get THE picture in which the light, the composition and the moment is gorgeous.

LIA EDWARDS | MUNICH FAMILY PHOTOGRAPHER

When I first transitioned away from classic posed family sessions, it was because I wanted to capture something more meaningful about the families I work with. So I found myself doing 2-3 hour activity-based sessions which got the kids laughing and smiling, i.e. lifestyle photography.

Initially, I was happy with this approach, I liked that I was capturing movement and joy and it all looked very clean and tidy because I had chosen the background and good light and photoshopped out messy "distractions" but I had a nagging feeling that I needed to go further, to get more meaning and depth in the images.

My aim was not to produce a pretty and fun image of kids smiling for the next Christmas card. Instead I wanted to make images that reflected the whole of family life: the sleepyheads in pajamas, messy meal times, nappy-changing and tooth-brushing struggles, getting shoes on (the wrong way round), meltdowns and the kid that runs naked down the hallway instead of getting in the bath. I thought, why shouldn't we capture the whole story?

I decided to follow the rules of  photojournalism (no directing, tidying up, moving stuff or changing lighting, and minimal post-processing) and spend much longer with my families. In doing so, I realized, these were not just a bunch of rules set by photojournalists to make themselves feel superior. These "rules" meant that my families were able to forget the presence of the camera, instead just feeling like they had a friend hanging out for the day. They would interact how they normally would and do the stuff they normally would (because, when you have kids, you just can't put on an act for 12 hours!). These rules enabled me to preserve the authenticity of the scene and allow the best moments to happen. Moments that no way could I have even thought to have engineered.

By taking a photojournalistic approach, I get to capture the genuine moments of everyday life that unfold in front of me, which can range from the hilarious to the heartfelt.

The fact that my clients cry on receiving their slideshow of their day-in-the-life only confirms for me what an incredible gift this is for the families that open themselves up to have a day documented in this way.

Documentary family photography has a real power beyond just a "nice" picture to go on the wall. We are creating a heritage for future generations - the ability to look back at what life looked and felt like on that one day, to start conversations between our children and their own grandchildren, long after we have left this world. When you think about it, that is pretty darn cool! This is why I choose to make unposed and undirected family images.