“I trust you. Do whatever you want.”
I hear these words quite often.
And I understand why people say them. They're putting their trust in me, in my experience, in what I see and what I might create for them.
It's a lovely thing to be told.
But if I'm being truthful, there's another side to it.
Sometimes it feels like being handed an empty page and being asked to fill it.
And I'd much rather we wrote something together.
I don't want to make beautiful photographs that could belong to anybody.
I still do sometimes.
But less and less.
Because the longer I do this, the more interested I become in what makes people who they are.
Not just how they look in beautiful light. Not just whether I've found the perfect location or created an interesting composition.
Those things matter to me. Of course they do. I'm a photographer. I love light, movement, colour and the possibilities of what I can create with them.
But I want something more.
I want to make photographs that mean something to the people in them.
Photographs where you recognise something of yourself, your relationships, your family.
Not just how you looked, but perhaps something about how it felt to be you at that particular time in your life.
So thank you for trusting me. Now let me see you.
You don't need to arrive with ideas.
You don't need to know anything about photography.
And you certainly don't need to become someone else in front of my camera.
But if there's something you want to tell me, tell me.
If you've seen something that moves you, show me.
If there's something about your family, your relationship or this particular moment in your life that matters to you, I'd love to know.
Because sometimes the smallest thing someone shares can become the beginning of something wonderful.
And sometimes you won't have anything to tell me at all.
That's fine too.
I'm curious by nature. I'm interested in people. In the things that make us different, and the things that make us so much alike.
I notice. I feel.
I can read love and connection without the need for words.
And often, what I find most interesting isn't something you would necessarily think to tell me about.
The best creative work leaves room for another person.
I love what can happen when two people bring something of themselves to an idea.
Not because I need someone to tell me how to do my job.
But because sometimes another person's perspective takes you somewhere you wouldn't have arrived on your own.
And I think that's exciting.
Collaboration doesn't mean you need to arrive with a mood board or a collection of ideas.
It doesn't mean we have to agree on everything.
And it certainly doesn't mean you need to be particularly confident or creative.
Sometimes it's simply about being open to the possibility that we might discover something together.
I bring my experience, my eye and my imagination.
You bring something I could never bring on my own.
Yourself.
And I think that matters.
Because your photographs shouldn't feel as though they could belong to anybody.
They should feel like yours.
There's more to photography than taking pictures.
I photograph families, newborn babies, mothers, couples and people at different stages of their lives.
And although the circumstances might be different, my interest is much the same.
I'm interested in people.
What matters to them. How they relate to each other. What they might want to remember, even if they haven't quite realised it yet.
Sometimes I'm a witness, a reader of light, and sometimes a friend.
I think being a photographer asks you to be all sorts of things.
And the longer I do this, the more I realise that the photographs are only part of what I'm creating.
There's something about the experience itself that matters to me too.
That someone feels comfortable enough to be themselves.
That their thoughts and ideas are welcome.
That they feel seen, rather than simply photographed.
And that applies whether I'm photographing a family in their home, creating a portrait or collaborating with someone on a different kind of creative project.
I want to understand what we're making and why it matters.
Not just what it should look like.
What do you want your photographs to mean?
There's nothing wrong with wanting beautiful photographs.
I want to make them too.
But I think there's an opportunity to make something more personal when we allow ourselves to look beyond how things appear.
You might not know what makes your family interesting to photograph.
You might think your everyday life is rather ordinary.
Perhaps you don't particularly like being photographed at all.
But there's something about you, your relationships and the life you're living that nobody else has.
And I think that's worth paying attention to.
Perhaps that's what I'm becoming more interested in as a photographer.
Not just making images that people admire.
Making images in which people recognise something of themselves.
Something they know. Something they feel. Or perhaps something they hadn't noticed before.
So when you tell me you trust me, I'm grateful.
But I'd also love you to know that your thoughts, your feelings and your ideas are welcome here.
You don't have to have the answers.
We can discover them together.
The photographs might be mine to make.
But the story is ours to discover.
