10/05/2021
This is why we do what we do...
Would you like to know why I became a photographer?
Would you like to know why ten years ago social photography became more important to me than maybe my commercial work was?
Well this phone snap holds the answer...
Today is the tenth anniversary of my Dad passing. I find it hard to believe that ten years on I miss him even more, yes the pain has dissipated some but I miss him. I miss the Sunday mornings at his house reading the papers, we may not have spoken in three hours but just sitting in his company, I miss. I miss the aggravated phone call literally every day I didn't call in on my way home from work. He used fixing his sky box as the excuse but hindsight shows that to me now and what used to annoy I now bitterly miss. I miss his guidance, I miss him as quite literally the worlds best grandfather... I just miss my dad.
Far too many times have we had somebody ring the studio after the passing of a parent asking what can we do with a works ID picture, can we fix it and blow it up for the wall??? If only they'd seen fit to make the time and invest in something proper, something to stir the memories, to keep them alive.
I both cherish and hate this image.
I hate it cause I knew he was dying, I hate it because he knew he was dying and therefore granted the session. I cherish it because its all that I physically have of him... YES... I never made the time to make hundreds and hundreds of images as I could have done, I was always too busy working, how stupid I was. Yes we have video, yes we have phone snaps but NOTHING compares to the real thing beautifully printed..
My Dad sits opposite my desk at work, I see it everyday, the longer its sat there the more valuable its become, it is now genuinely priceless to my family and I and THIS is why social photography is so, so important to me, this is why I believe we all should visit professional studios and capture those oh so fleeting precious memories, the pandemic has reminded me of the even more.
Being a Professional photographer is the most important job in the world, we can transport people through times, remind people of a joke, bring back smells and tastes in short RECONNECT, touch those we love and miss, is there any greater gift to give or receive?
What we do is special, what we do is important, what we do is priceless, what we do should be cherished. This is why I'm a photographer and this is why I do what I do. This is why honing my craft is important to me, this is why my journey never ends, my goal is to be better tomorrow than I was today, my goal is to keep building those connections.
Ten years on eh Dad, who'd have thought, I miss you terribly but at least I can see your face and remember your moans... thank God you said yes to the sitting.
Actually thinking about it Dad was a bit of a visionary, a little earlier than this, but during his ten year battle with cancer, he asked me to make a portrait for him of his grandchildren. Again, at the time, for me it was hassle, but Dad asked, no commanded, so I did it as you do... guess where that portrait is now???
In his will he instructed me to have it buried with him, maybe he did know how important what I do is, even before I did.
I miss you old man, rest easy.
I say this every year, if you have a memory or a storey about my dad, please PM me I'd love to know him not just as my Dad, my hero, but as a rounder human.
Never forget pictures are important.
