{Bear with me. The end of an era demands a longer post than usual.}
It seems only fitting that Lisa’s family would be my last session of 2009. After all, she was their at the beginning. The very beginning. Ten years ago Lisa and I were hired on the same day to be photographers for the first time in a retail portrait studio…in a mall. We voluntarily wore a multicolored hat with a spinning propeller on top of our heads and over-sized vests with large pockets to stuff giant rolls of 120mm film and coveted filters into. We agreed to stand on our feet all day and convince nervous children to laugh and smile with us in a tiny room with too many props and gaudy backdrops and we did all this for minimum wage.
Lisa and I hit it off right away and we were good at what we did. Really good. Within a few months we were both promoted to manage this silly studio in the mall which also happened to be the highest volume store of its kind in the country. Sessions lasted only 15 minutes and you had to get five different poses and only use one roll of film with exactly 9 frames. We were off the hook with those spinning hats! There was never any time for lunch breaks and if we did manage some down time it was well spent perfecting our juggling acts and crazy balloon animal skills.
Of all my Facebook friends, 15 of them have at some point in their lives worked for this same studio. We’re like a little family of weirdos that all have some strange personality that actually likes that kind of work…in theory. That kind of lifestyle will either burn you out completely and make you avoid malls in general — especially around the holidays — or at the very least you realize that you have to pay rent and feed yourself and that job ain’t gonna cut it. I still had a lot of those fears when I started my business this year. How could I possibly make a living doing this? Who will me pay me to spend a couple of hours photographing their family when they could go to the mall and get pictures for half the price?
Well, Lisa found me via Facebook just a few weeks ago and announced that she and her family of three would be coming into town for the holidays. She, like so many other families, wanted me to take her first family pictures. When we finally met up on the morning of her session she confessed that she had just been to our old studio with her extended family for a big family portrait. Someone in their group has a membership so it seemed to make sense. How did it go? I asked. She shook her head because it went just as you would imagine. Some minimum wage photographer who learned to use a camera last month took them all back into a small room and asked them to smile. The photographer was understandably exhausted from long hours at the mall and the never ending line of children waiting to be photographed at her door. She was likely bored and annoyed about taking the same exact portrait with the same exact backdrop that they had been using all day every day for weeks. The photographer didn’t even bother to learn anyone in her groups names and they got a basic generic portrait of everyone in the same room pretending to be comfortable and happy. In the end, I’m sure her family is delighted to have that photo of everyone together but what’s sad is that the photographer and Lisa’s family had been robbed of the real experience they should have had.
When someone asks you to take their picture you have a very important job to do. You’re being asked to record history — to document them as they are now. You’re being asked to create a piece of art that will be blown up big, framed, and hung above the fireplace. The picture you’re being asked to make will be handed down for generations. Stories will be told from this picture. It’s an honor to take someones portrait and if I’m the one doing it…it’s also gonna be a lot of fun!
Friends, this has been a really amazing year. I had no idea I would get to be a professional photographer…again. I’ve met so many fantastic people and gorgeous families — not just here in Seattle — but throughout the globe as many kind and creative bloggers have found this little home of mine. Thank you for an amazing year!
And now, it is my pleasure to introduce you to my final family of 2009: Lisa, Joel and Kaden!
Oh yeah, Auntie Lori and her boyfriend Kyle came along too! Aren’t they a cute couple?
Quick online poll. All those with toddlers or know of a toddler can play. Ready? All those with toddlers who love trains say “aye”. “AYE!!”. Wonderful. Just as I suspected. Now, all those with toddlers who don’t like trains say, “nay”. {crickets} Point made.
If I were a stranger visiting my blog for the first time I might think I had a bit of a foot obsession. My poor mother and little sister with their foot phobias are probably crawling in their skin right now. I can’t help it. A family of feet is just cool. Especially in converse. Unlike them, I am not afraid of feet. Belly buttons however are a totally different story. Belly buttons absolutely creep me out. Don’t come near mine.
Now before you go away, I’d like to wish you a Happy New Year and may your 2010 be full of laughter, love and more beautiful than the last. Go check out the slide show…
