meet the jageurs family

Earlier this year I did a family session which followed on from this one for our dear friends. It was capturing Lucy's side of the family - her parents and three siblings, their partners and children (which I have not shared). Lucy's sister said wonderful things about me to anyone who would listen (bless her!) and her work colleague, Rebeka, contacted me for a family session. We emailed back and forth for a while. She struggled to get her (also) large family in one place, all at the same time. Time slipped by and her baby's arrival was imminent. Following baby Emily's birth, finally they were able to gather together for Rebeka's mother's 60th birthday. A few weeks ago, I was invited to capture her family prior to the celebratory gathering, and the celebrations themselves, all by the seaside, on a glorious late spring, Sunday morning.

Previous family sessions I've done have involved families who don't mind having their photo taken. The Jageurs family tipped toward the other end of the scale, well most of them anyway. Despite their hesitation in the beginning, I was welcomed warmly, and they soon forgot I was there. Their family dynamic broke through. A loving, full, vibrant family unit was evident, happy to be brought together to celebrate mum's birthday milestone. And, of course, to kiss, swaddle, cuddle and soothe teeny tiny, one month old baby Emily.

When family photographers speak of the privilege of being invited and welcomed into a family's home to witness and capture the seemingly unimportant and mundane routine of family life, they are speaking absolute truth. What a gift it is to be given, invited into a sacred world, by complete strangers, who are trusting you will be able to give them little frozen memories of just a few hours in their lives. A few hours when they are just being. Just carrying on. Just living their every day. A privilege, yes indeed.