Ten on the Tenth {Documentary-style Family Photography}

October 14, 2015

Ten on the Tenth {Documentary-style Family Photography} | Photography

I posted on my facebook page yesterday about how I've been having a bit of an internal struggle when it comes to the kind of photography I want to do once I "properly" start my business next year. I enjoy creating beautiful traditional family portraits, but what I really love is a more documentary-style of photography.

The thing that I have always loved about photography is it's ability to capture a moment in time. Most of my favourite photos of my girls are not the ones where they are looking and smiling at the camera, being good little models, but the photos of the little things and ordinary moments that make up our days.

I'm in my last term of Tafe, we finish classes at the end of November. Then all that's left before graduation in May next year is our exhibition, which is also next May, but for which we have to make our final image selection before the end of term.

Our final major assessment is putting together a portfolio of 10 images that showcase our skills, what we've learned, and our personal style. I've shown some of the long-list contenders in my portfolio to a couple of teachers now and have gotten completely different feedback. Photography, like any kind of art form, is subjective. People project their own personal experiences and emotions on to every image they view, and so what moves one person won't necessarily move another.

It's much the same with teachers. They can tell you what images of yours are technically good, but whether or not they actually like the image comes down to their own subjectivity. I'm struggling between choosing photos that are technically good, and choosing photos that showcase the kind of work that I really like to do.

It's something that I really need to figure out quick smart because we have less than 4 weeks to make our final selections and then get them printed and matted to the required standard for assessing. It's a big, hard job, and I can only hope that I find the perfect balance between what is considered technically good, but that also showcases my own personal style and the kind of work that I really enjoy doing.

Until then, here are 10 images I shot on the 10th of October. It was a day we spent at home, not doing much at all, just relaxing and taking it easy. This more documentary-style of images is what I most love to shoot, and I hope you enjoy them...