.
I usually started in the morning, waking up early, and until they went to sleep. I followed them everywhere.
The technical aspect of photographing such a delicate moment concerned me greatly at first. How exactly would I go about it? I needed to be as respectful to them as I possibly could and I needed their reactions to be as natural as possible. It was thus essential that they become accustomed and desensitised to the presence of the cameras. So I spent 3 weeks photographing them.
Of the photographs I took throughout the weeks I spent with my parents, some of my favourites capture the natural interactions between them. They’ve been together for forty-four years and can be quite an adorable pair. There are so many moments that I took for granted and only noticed when I started to examine them through the lens. I was able to not only photograph my parents but also observe them in a way that I never had before.
They got acclimatised to the constant photographing much faster than I thought they would. After a few days they were practically pros
Mom has always been a woman of routines. One of her favourite pastimes is to watch soap operas. It’s rare for her to be at home and not have the TV on. One day we were sitting down in the kitchen having a chat. She had just finished her afternoon snack, which regularly followed her daily nap. She took out her handbag and lit a cigarette. As we talked, I couldn’t help but admire her calm demeanour and the light above her head. I couldn’t resist, so I set up the tripod and asked her to just keep doing what she was doing as I prepared a roll of medium-format film. She was a great sport, but deep down I knew she was annoyed because I was blocking her afternoon soap opera.
Dad is a workaholic and has dedicated his life to running his business. He plays guitar sometimes and collects tons of music. I can recall his obsession with music from a very young age. He’d spend hours and sometimes entire days with his vinyl records and CDs. It was difficult to ignore my dad’s love for music, as most weekends he would wake us up by playing his favourite songs loudly. Given some drawings from when he was young that I found, he also had the potential to be an especially gifted artist with a pencil or paintbrush.
Read the full story
*All of the images used here have the full consent and support of my family.
