A couple of weeks ago I returned to a family who I first photographed when their daughter was a newborn, after her inspirational breech home birth. It is always lovely to revisit families and see how the children are growing, so I was delighted to be asked back to photograph her as a six month old.
This family is always especially enjoyable to work with because the mother shares creative ideas with me about the session in advance, including that she wants all the images to be black and white. As I became involved in photography before digital cameras my first love was monochrome film, but nowadays I don’t get much opportunity to work without colour. Knowing that is how these pictures will be presented allows me to flex my pre-visualisation muscles and try to imagine the tonal range of the final images.
The beautiful early spring light and the room that we used helped create an almost tactile range of textures and tones: crisp white sheets, creamy baby skin, cascading dark wavy hair and intricately patterned knitted jumper. I remembered what I first loved about image making and felt that I was seeing light and tone as a true photographer again.
