Why I Chose Photography
The word "why" is a favorite around any household that has young children. When we're first starting out and everything is brand new to us, we have a natural curiosity to know why things are the way they are.
My "why" is because I have personally experienced how looking at an image can immediately transport you to a different time and place; to different emotions and feelings; to conversations and dreams that may have previously been forgotten. Any image that contains my Grandma and Grandpa takes me back to my precious time with them. I go back to when I would drive up to their house and see them sitting in the carport with their newspapers and Diet Cokes. They were so excited to see me and Grandpa would usually address me according to whatever was written on my shirt: 'Hi there LL" (when I would wear my Lockhart Lions athletic shirt) or "Hi there Old Navy. Wait, I am the old Navy," (he served in the Navy during WWII).
I may have bugged my entire family growing up because I would always be taking pictures during the get togethers or filming them on my video camera. But the truth of the matter is, those photos and those videos are the most precious items I possess and that is why I chose photography.
Meet my Aunt Sandy:
Aunt Sandy is my husband's aunt, on his father's side. She is a perfect example of a strong, independent, country woman who has seen a fair share of heartache but has clung to the Good Lord and continued on. She doesn't allow herself to wallow. She doesn't allow herself to think that she is a victim of anything or that others owe her anything. She is generous, kind, funny, frugal, and loving.
In 2013 Sandy called me up, asking me if she could purchase a photo session for her daughter's family as a Christmas gift. We made arrangements and the following April (2014) her daughter, Tami, and her family came down to her mom's property. Sandy's husband, Roger, had been battling esophageal cancer so I knew just how important it would be to include him in the photographs.
Tami, Chris, Jordan, and Cooper all have a deep love for Doss and Sandy's beautiful property. They hunt and hike all over the land so it was only natural to go to their favorite spots to capture the family pictures.
The bluff is a very sentimental spot for the entire family (including myself, as it was where my husband proposed) so we started there. We continued on, walking all over the property.
Towards the end of the shoot, we made our way back to Sandy's house where she and Roger were waiting. It was there that I was able to capture my "why" of the night.
This photograph. This is my "why" from April 14, 2014. We all knew that Roger may not be with us for many more years to come so, with that in my mind, I wanted to capture him. I wanted to capture who he was to his wife, his daughter, his son-in-law, and his grandsons.
Sandy told me a few years later that as I took this photo, Roger had told her to not squeeze him so tight, as his stomach was bothering him. To this day, when Sandy looks at this printed photograph that is framed and in her home, she goes back to that exact memory. She goes back to the giggles that his comment made her. She goes back to the grin on his face. She goes back to him.
That is my why.
