Documentary Family Photography: art of the ordinary by Alice Chapman

I still remember the moment years ago, when I realised documentary family photography was a “thing” . I’d been photographing families for a few years and had been drawn to outtakes or behind the scenes style images. I stumbled across the genre online, and sat immersed until I’d seen, read and watched everything I possibly could. I realised that candid images embracing the chaoso real family life could be the intention behind the entire shoot. Everything about the wayIwantedtomakephotographsfinallymade sense. It was exciting to understand that family photography can be approached as photojournalism for families. And although it’s technically client photojournalism, when approached with a photojournalistic ethos it’s none the less an act of honestly documenting the everyday and the ordinary. Real family life is chaotic, messy, funny, repetitive, emotionally all over the place and not what it looks like in the adverts (yet!). I very much feel the artistic drive to make order out of chaos, so I’ve found my perfect subject.

It’s incredibly rewarding to contribute to a more honest visual history of the family. It’s an empowering genre all round. I feel that family photography can sometimes look homogeneous and idealised. As a mother, I’m all too aware of the pressures that social media imagery can put upon us. By focusing on what makes people and their everyday lives together unique, we’re saying being yourself is not only good enough-it has real aesthetic value too. I’m drawn to tell stories of motherhood, childhood and family: the subjects are as valid, interesting and essential as any other aspects of human life, if not more so.

I’m particularly driven to capture character; working hard to enable families and children to be themselves in their family photos so that I can champion their individuality. I tell my clients that best behaviour is optional; they don’t need to look, be or do anything different because I’m there.

But it’s not as easy as it might seem! It’s not enough to tell people to “act natural”. Shooting undirected doesn’t mean we’re not responsible or in charge of the shoot. A good family documentary shoot happens when we combine client care with a well-honed technical and creative skill set.

Building trust with clients is key. Consulting carefully before the shoot enables getting to know each other and the client learning what to expect on the day. Family documentary isa growing genre and we need to help clients understand what it is and, crucially, what it isn’t. So, I make sure everyone realises I’m not going to pose or direct, and we talk beforehand about routine and favourite activities and places. I’m looking for genuine moments and interactions amongst real life everyday scenes, and it’s this preparation that enables those moments to happen. I’m also looking to include the home for meaningful context, so I’m not going to move anything and I tell my clients they don’t need to tidy up. The empowerment and trust to be yourself happens as early as possible in the process.

Technically, it can be a challenging way to shoot. With no direction or posing and usually no additional lighting,we need to work on that skill set and be ready to think on our feet as we go with the flow with our clients.

Quality of light used to keep me awake at night. These days I relish the challenge of shooting in all light conditions: using backlight, rim light, silhouette or intentional motion blur in low light; shooting dramatic high contrast, colourful and dark images in harsh light, finding the definition in flat light; embracing real life colour casts and mixed light colours and levels in a scene; pushing my ISO and practicing switching between light conditions on the go.

Perhaps more than anything else, I’ve learned to trust that the documentary process will deliver results for client photography. It can be nervewracking to stop directing and to let go of that control. I felt like I took a leap of faith in fully committing to using the documentary approach forclients. I’ve never looked back! I started to see the most wonderful and genuine moments happening in front of me because I fully enabled ordinary real life to play out. It’s so easy to burst that bubble by directing a little bit here and there. I learned that, except when shooting documentary portraits, I just don’t need to.

Instead, there are techniques that I use regularly: slowing down to anticipate behaviour rather than constantly reacting to action; focusing on character and individuality rather than attempting to capture unity; capturing the feeling rather than the look of a scene or moment; and looking for a story arc in a shoot as I’m aiming for a long photo essay ratherthan a set of single images. Socially, I immerse myself in the family while I’m with them, feeling as if I fall into the family unit fo r awhile. This enables me to shoot as if from within rather than from a constant point of external observation. Technically, shooting with a short focal length and using layers to visually immerse the point of view can emphasise this effect. I’m aiming for the resulting images to look like artful representations of ordinary family life, not to look like photos of people paying to have their photo taken.

The genre has grown a lot in the last ten years and continues to grow at pace. These days there’s a wealth of information to soak up, a huge body of work to take inspiration from, and a thriving documentary family community. Photography education is my most recent passion. I enjoy mentoring photographers who work in or are transitioning to the genre; developing their creative skills or working on their business skills. I have a specialist course on documentary nursery school photography too. Asaco-founder of Made for Documentary, an education and community hub for documentary family photographers, I love flying the flag for the genre. If you’d like to find out more, please do get in touch.

@alicechapmanphotography

www.alicechapmanphotography.co.uk

Photos © Alice Chapman