“Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.” — A line spoken by Matthew Broderick in the 1986 film Ferris Bueller’s Day Off . We all sometimes reach the end of another year and feel that we missed a great deal. That turbulent period may have given some of us an opportunity to document the beauty inside our homes.
One day, you realize that the baby you held not so long ago is now an irreverent teenager who borrows your mascara and texts her BFF at two in the morning.
There may also come a time when you realize that a loved one has passed away and that you spent less time creating memories with that person than you would have liked.
Less than two hundred years ago, life expectancy was short, infant mortality was high, and cameras were not available in the average household. People often paid for post-mortem photographs—exactly what the name suggests. Because loved ones were not photographed regularly, families often paid photographers to portray relatives after death, sometimes seated in lifelike poses, because that would literally become the family’s only photographic memory of that family member.
When a person was still healthy, hiring a photographer was often too expensive, so a post-mortem photograph might become the only image of that person. It seems morbid to modern viewers, but at the time it arose from a desperate need to preserve the memory of someone who had died and prevent that person’s face from fading from memory.
Sometimes a person’s expression captures the essence of who they are.
Fortunately, people today have their own camera. But does your collection of selfies and snapshots really do justice to your time on Earth? Have you recorded only your loved ones’ faces, as those post-mortem images did, or have you captured who those people truly are? If you do not like your answer, it is time to think seriously about your photography and how you can use it to document everything around you. Here are several tips.
1. Photograph Life
Photograph the joy on your child’s face, the care your partner puts into preparing a meal, and the experience of watching the sun rise. Above all, photograph important moments as they happen. When you succeed, your camera can preserve the feeling of a moment so that you can relive it whenever you view the images.
The key to photographing life is to stay alert and always have a camera with you. Although people are mocked for relying too heavily on their phones, the truth is that our phones are precisely the tools we need to keep important moments from being lost forever.
To capture life fully, however, you need to do more than take selfies or family vacation photographs. Those images matter, but they may lack depth. To capture life, show emotion in your pictures: dreams, love, happiness, and humanity, as well as sadness, disappointment, and boredom, because those are also parts of life.
To Capture Life, Show Emotion in Your Images
The first step is personal. What makes you happy, and which people in your life make you happiest? Focus on those people and ask yourself which of their qualities brings you joy.
Do not photograph your child only while they are engaged in activities; try to capture the joy they experience during those activities. Record their curiosity as they study the blue belly of a newly caught lizard, or the excitement on their face as a butterfly lands nearby just before flying away.
Your photographs should not be only about an activity; they should convey the emotions experienced by the people you love. Sometimes a person’s expression captures who they are. Be ready for that moment and have a camera at hand. These will become the moments you cherish.
2. Photograph the Good—and the Less Good
That does not mean you should avoid photographing a rebellious teenager. Defiance is also part of life. Truth is at the heart of good photography, and an opportunity to record it should not be avoided.
3. Photograph the Things You Love
What about the things that bring you happiness but are not necessarily tied to particular people, such as hobbies, passions, and pastimes?
Everyone has activities that bring them joy. If you love knitting, for example, your collection of yarn may be a happy place. Have you considered photographing it? Have you thought about documenting your thread, sewing machine, unfinished projects, or heirlooms passed down by your grandmother?
4. Photograph Places in Your Home
Places can also hold great meaning. Do you have a favorite spot that brings you calm and peace? Photograph that place, but not in a strictly documentary way. Think about the emotion it evokes and try to capture the essence of that feeling.
Use the light if it is a place where you can retreat even when you are feeling low. It might look beautiful on a stormy afternoon, or you could photograph it during the golden hour, often the warmest and most beautiful time of day.
5. Photograph Difficult Moments
The key to photographing difficult emotions is to remain sensitive and to be open and honest about what you are doing with your camera. No one experiencing grief, loneliness, or frustration will appreciate having a camera placed in front of their face without warning.
Be honest with the person: explain that you want to take a photograph, promise not to keep images they do not approve, and stop when asked. Explain that the pictures will be shared only with close family and friends, and respect anyone who decides they would rather not be photographed.
Truth Is at the Heart of Good Photography
If you are moving and the old house is the only home your child has ever known, they may have mixed feelings about leaving their room. This is the kind of life moment you may want to preserve in a family album: a transition, a milestone, the end of one chapter and the beginning of another.
Shortly before the moving van leaves, you could ask your child to stand in the empty bedroom for a portrait. Do not ask for a smile, and avoid prompting the usual cheeky grin at the camera. You may not need to, because they may naturally feel somber.
If the emotion you hoped to document does not emerge, invite your child to talk about leaving the house. The conversation may help them process the experience while giving you an opportunity to record the moment. End by asking what they look forward to in the new home; that may lift their spirits and add another photograph to the series.
Of course, you can also photograph the warmth and daily life in that bedroom before deciding to move. Those are important parts of a life story.
Conclusion
The key to photographing life effectively is to capture emotion. Whether unexpected or predictable, it should be genuine and visible in the person’s expression. If you can bring these moments to life and preserve them meaningfully, they become memories not only for you now, but also for your future self and later generations.
A wise man once said, “In three words I can sum up everything I’ve learned about life: it goes on.” That wise man was the poet Robert Frost. Those are words worth remembering whenever you do something with someone you love. And make sure you have a camera.
