The Dayton Family

When I think back on the best, most memorable moments from my life thus far, I’m never thinking about the fancy memories. You know, the ones that look good on paper. Instead I find myself thinking of the everyday.

I think about my sisters and I all sleeping in the same bed just for fun. I think about car rides and my dad pulling over until we putonseatbelts/stoppedyelling/stoppedbuggingthepersonnexttous. I think of pink curlers in my hair and Anne of Green Gables on Saturday night. I think about hiding under the kitchen counter avoiding dishes. I think about lazy Sunday afternoons and staring at the view from the back porch. I think about snuggling and listening and talking and crying and just feeling feelings. I think about the normal everyday stuff…that in hindsight, feels pretty extraordinary.

When It’s all said and done, those will be the moments I’ll think back on. And 99% of them will be of my family.

When the idea was presented of flying to Buffalo NY and spending a few days documenting a family…well…just being a family, it wasn’t hard to say yes.

I slept in their house and spent every waking moment with them and my camera. If they were eating breakfast I was there. If they were lazing around watching TV I was there.

Even though I pride myself on being a “documentary” photographer, this was no easy task. The challenge to see life as is and interject as little as possible is a challenge. No directing. No light control. No location control. Giving up all control to try and actually photograph WHAT IS.

It was an amazing exercise of faith on my part for two days. I had to trust “what was” and let it control me.

The result:

Dayton Family thank you for letting me be an honorary member.

When someone asks me to photograph their family…I will always hope they mean the “everyday”.

There are a lot of images in this blog post on purpose. Sometimes editing too much just feels dishonest.