Felix Mars Peterson and his mother nine hours and ten minutes after coming into this world. Swedish Hospital, Seattle, WA , 1/29/09 9:34pm.
Felix was born to Mascha Kroenlein and myself after an arduous 30 hour labor and a vacuum assisted delivery (he was face up and coming at a strange angle). He was six pounds even at birth, nineteen inches tall, two weeks early, and in perfect health.
This has been the most profound (and yet totally exhausting and overwhelming) experience of my life. Gazing into Felix’s face is like looking at a reflection of my own, of the face I only know from faded old photographs. As a photographer I want to capture it all – never again will Felix be one day old, or three, or six. But as a father, as a man, I need to set the camera down, and picture him with my soul, with the vision of my spirit. I also need to hold and soothe him, change his diapers, take care of his mother, and try and get some sleep.
Never in my lifetime did I think this would happen. From being a freelance rock and roll photographer, to a family history of bipolar illness, to the inability to maintain a relationship for longer than three months, the odds were stacked against me. Being a father seemed like the last thing I needed in my unstable life. I resisted, even rejected, the entire concept until I met Mascha four and a half years ago. She offered the overwhelming desire to be a parent, along with the stability to actually make it a reality. And I said lets give it a try.
With promoting the release of my recent book, CYPHER, the interviews I’ve done inevitably end with the question, “What’s your next project?” Well for the time being, here it is. As DAH said to me in this blog only a few days ago, “forget the other stuff for a while. Its just other stuff. Felix is the project of a lifetime.”
Website: Charles Peterson
This is a beautiful photograph and you have a beautiful son. There is such power in photography that comes from the heart.
CONGRATULATIONS BIG DADDY! :))))))
so happy to see the pic, so happy to Felix….and so happy the breath of light….
the beginning of the rest of you life…as we’ve chatted ;)))
beautiful moment of a beautiful life…
congrats….so happy to see Burn feature this Charles…
hugs
bob
p.s Cypher Rocks!
Chaaaaaaaarles…
Next month im coming to Seattle again…!!!
Can’t wait to play soccer with Felix….!
I think I’ve this photo before anybody else here..
Well , wrong…!
Tom Hyde was there next to me!!!
Anyways, see you soonest…
First gyros on 3rd street..
Then , Vietnamese …! What else???
Peace and hugs from the Rainy LA!!!!
fantastic charles.. isn´t it just the best feeling in the world? and too right.. look to whats real and really important for now.
so happy for you.. and such a joyful photograph to see up here.
best of luck to all three of you.
david, beate and tor-capa.
x
Charles,
It is essence of photography…
peace
Charles,
The photo,.. and that intro!
Its good to see the circle come around.
Again,
Good work
Tim
Panos, you owe me a beer
wonderful and congratulations!
I think there is a spelling mistake in the photographer’s weblink!
It should be http://www.charlespeterson.net instead of http://www.charlespterson.net/
Charles,
Well said! &…enjoy the journey. -Cheers, Jeremy
Thanks all! It’s a daily high. I feel really blessed.
Typo on my website URL: it should be http://www.charlespeterson.net
Hey Panos – well this time around I’m sure you’ll get to meet Felix in person. And I have other cheap dining experiences up my sleeve. See you soon!
Congratulations Charles, Mascha and, of course, Felix!
Wonderful photograph Charles, I love the way the light falls on Felix. You now have anew project; Family. I don’t have to tell you that, do I?
Very good, personal and heartfelt intro. Thanks Charles and Mascha for sharing.
Mike.
I agree with marcin. A picture like this will ALWAYS transcend petty concerns over style, intent, or money. It is a record of life that i hope you and yours will always regard as above anything as base as critique. It is real, and i suspect, and hope, only the first in a long line of treasures.
Congratulations.
JOHN
Subhrajit, like your website!
Mike.
Just beautiful!
this is beautiful.
it’s also almost too personal. do you ever feel like keeping some photos for yourself?
I have this struggle sometimes with myself. how does everyone feel about this?
ps i’ll second mr Bob on the Cypher
pps I think the website is mistyped under the description?
Hi all,
Tried to post earlier but it wouldn’t work. Hope this time it goes through.
Yes,typo on my website url. It should be: http://www.charlespeterson.net/
Thanks all for the nice comments. It is a daily high with this little man. I feel blessed.
Great question Stelios. It is very personal, and that’s the exact reason I submitted it, and wrote as truthfully as I did. DAH and others have talked quite a bit about intimacy and putting yourself out there, in both your work and your life. Here was a great opportunity to do that while at the same time celebrating the larger theme of the magic of new life. But yes, there are pics that I won’t share. I’m sure we all have at least one of those.
PANOS – see you in Seattle! This time you can meet Felix in person. And I have other culinary adventures in mind.
Charles, Mascha and Felix –
Charles, Mascha and Baby Felix –
So proud to be your mom and to have Mascha and Felix in my life.
He will be your joy and sometimes your trial, but always the love of your life.
Hugs and Kisses from Felix’s Grandma.
Tried to post earlier but it wouldn’t work. Hope this time it goes through.
Yes,typo on my website url. It should be: http://www.charlespeterson.net/
Thanks all for the nice comments. It is a daily high with this little man. I feel blessed.
Great question Stelios. It is very personal, and that’s the exact reason I submitted it, and wrote as truthfully as I did. DAH and others have talked quite a bit about intimacy and putting yourself out there, in both your work and your life. Here was a great opportunity to do that while at the same time celebrating the larger theme of the magic of new life. But yes, there are pics that I won’t share. I’m sure we all have at least one of those.
PANOS – see you in Seattle! This time you can meet Felix in person. And I have other culinary adventures in mind.
this photo brought tears to my eyes..
so precious..
time goes quickly..
reflect on this photo when he is a teenager…
you’ll need it!!
thanks for sharing…
he is a beautiful boy..
**
I love the way the light kisses baby felix’s cheeks..it looks as if the sun is having a turn right before mom and dad…big beautiful congratulations to the whole family, and to you, for living outside your own box; I find that very encouraging!
SORRY charles, i just see your comment…. your link is fixed as we speak!
anton
Tim…:)))
Yes my man, I do owe you a beer…
Charles…
Seattle feels like home to me now …
Thank you…!
;-)
A big kiss to little Felix from uncle Panos
:))
Charles,
A new chapter indeed! You have so many wonderful moments ahead. Enjoy them all. Congrats.
Did you ever get my email about Eric Keller? Looks like you’ve been BUSY :))
I’m sure we have all seen our share of new mother/baby portraits but there’s something special about this one. You have brought us right inside the family circle here, Charles, and that is a great privilege. The light shining on dear Felix’s face, curled fingers, arm and shoulder is the same light that highlights his mother’s cheek. You have captured their bond in a most tangible way.
Could it be that we are seeing an early photograph for your new book?? I sincerely hope so. Yes, there are other such books in existence but with your loving eye and unique talent, yours will be in a class of its own. But you don’t need to think about that yet: just shoot & shoot & shoot…in between changing diapers, supporting Mascha, holding and soothing Felix when he cries, and getting some sleep yourself!
hugs from Patricia
ANTON…
wait a minute!! i thought i fixed Charles’ url typo all by myself…by the way, since i did not hear from you this afternoon i assumed you were in the middle of some great yakuza work..hope so…you must be jet lagged beyond the beyond…we are all set for Spain amigo…just try to get some sleep on the plane….
cheers, david
GRANDMA CARVER….
i am planning to photograph Charles, Mascha and Felix when i am in Seattle in April..do you live there as well?? if so, you MUST be in the picture…so , who does Felix most resemble, a Carver or a Peterson??
cheers, david
i love his delicate little fingers.
enjoy these peaceful moments.
can’t wait to meet him when
uncle panos gets here. :))
This is beauty beyond words…but here is my attempt to articulate…
Adrenaline pumping, surging blood back into the extremities…
the feeling returns to the fingertips…
9 months of preparation becomes a reality.
He is real
fragile, tiny, dependent, amazing…
Exhale…
the breath constrained without realizing it
is realized now
Exhale…breath held still inside now is stirred to evacuate and
breathe life into this little one,
part of you
I don’t know that these words do justice to the miracle of life witnessed here in this photograph, but it’s my attempt to examine how I feel when seeing this image. Simply wondrous and awe-inspiring. The way the light falls on him is just glorious…Congratulations to Charles, Mascha, and little Felix. I hope to be so blessed one day…
Congrats Charles! The only thing that ever caused me to stray from photography was the birth of my own three boys. Like I once told another new dad/photographer, if you are going to do baby pics then you better make them art! :-) (And he did)
Felix sounds like a great project!
All the best to the three of you!
Charles your words are as beautiful as the shot of Felix and Mascha.
all my love, can’t wait to see you all next time I’m in Seattle. boo
DAVID,
He definitely looks most like his dad! It’s crazy to look at old photos of me as an infant and see Felix. I was a little guy at first as well – five weeks early and five pounds five ounces. Personality (so far) is much more of a split. He’s incredibly alert and visual – I’m fearing another photographer/artist/lighting designer/etc in the works! Though hopefully with his mother’s pragmatic side (and drive).
My mother is about a couple of hours away (San Juan Islands). If it works out I’m sure she would love to come down for a photo.
PATRICIA,
I’m shooting and shooting! Got some great stuff with his 90 year old great-grandfather the other day. But at one month old it’s a lot of just laying there. Can’t wait for movement (my speciality)!
ROBERT,
I think you can extend that – if you are going to do pictures (or at least hoist them on everyone), you better make them art!
Best to everyone,
Charles
Wow, amazing photo, and I loved your copywriting too, it brought tears to my eyes. Mazeltov!
Congratulations to Pap, Mom and the baby who did some major work facing up :) beautiful picture too! i bet you wont be tired of photographing for the next ehhh……teen years ;)))
Dear Charles,
Very amazing and blessed moment…
Certainly, Felix will be the beautiful project of you!
Congratulations!
Nice one Charles, a well framed image. Congratulations its going to be a fun ride from now on.
Why was this selected for Burn? I’m confused. I don’t want to sound harsh but I don’t come here to see a family snap.
Don’t get me wrong either, I love children, and the story is interesting, but I’m not attached to this nor do I think it should be here.
Congratulations.
Jonathan, This family photograph is exactly where it should be: it’s being shown to the extended family here at Burn. It’s also a very special photograph: stands on its merits for-sure.
Thanks for the link to your blog Jonathan, looks interesting, will browse later.
Good light!
Mike.
Mike R, thanks, I see it that way. Makes more sense now.
Jonathan,
family snaps bad eh? I suppose that you would be familiar with Larry Towell? Maybe Nan Goldin? Maybe Richard Billingham? Maybe Mitch Epstein? Maybe Larry Sultan? Maybe Jacob aue Sobol? Maybe Annelies Strba? Maybe Tina Barney? Maybe Larry Clark? Maybe Nobuyoshi Araki? I could go on, but let’s just stop there. The point being family or extended family in the case of some of the above is a subject every bit as powerful as what I see you are into on your flickr stream. It has a rich tradition and some profoundly powerful work by some of the biggest names in photography. Dismissing it as family snaps spraks more to your lack of a foundation in photographic traditions and language than it does about anything else.
JonathanJK…
i think i could easily do a whole post here on “family snaps”…and maybe i made the mistake of not posting such a piece using this Charles Peterson photo as an example…it will be interesting to see how you react to the upcoming essay by Rafal which is all “family snaps”…and my oh my you are really going to kill me for my whole two year “Off For A Family Drive” project…
i must admit, for me anyway, it is all sentimentality….for sure a “no no” in many photographic circles…but, i just can’t help myself…i am a pretty sentimental guy….if my house catches fire, i am rushing for the family albums first…i will run back into the flames to pull out my “serious work” later….
i publish photographs on BURN for many reasons…and i am planning a book on the collected writings and photographs of the last three years of our “extended family” here of which you are a valued part…alas, i am afraid the final look and feel of our forum in print form will indeed be quite a bit like a family album….shoot me for sentiment..guilty as charged….
cheers, david
Rafal Pruszynski, Take a step back there boyo. I never said ‘bad’, did I? I think you’ve jumped the gun a little too eagerly here.
I’m merely talking about this images purpose for being on Burn, I’m discussing context. Had you read my second comment properly, Mike R provided the context, and I have acknowledged it, 30 mins before you needed to comment. If I want to call it a family snap I will, please don’t try to elevate this to being anything else. This we can discuss.
But what I’m NOT doing is making a statement on the snapshot aesthetic either, so no need for you to go off on a mini rant, about its virtues, and throw some names at me, as though I’m some kind of ignorant college student, especially when you’ve supposedly looked at my flickr stream, insulting people doesn’t make you any friends.
I will admit though, Nan Goldin doesn’t interest me in the slightest. But the others, I love Araki’s work, and Larry Clark’s. I’ve even met Richard Billingham, and discussed with him, his work ‘Rays a Laugh,’ which I try to reference in my own work.
David, everything after the second paragraph in my previous post, should allay any concerns as to whether I’m going to like or dislike upcoming work. Infact I’m planning on submitting some work myself later this month and it should be clear I work in the snapshot aesthetic. I also didn’t realise my initial post was so ambiguous that it would be seen as an attack on snapshots.
I don’t tend to print much of my work, so in case of a fire, I’d be running for my backup hard drives. :-)
First of all, Jonathan, Im older than you so the boyo here is, well, you.
Second of all, this is what you said
—————————————————–
Why was this selected for Burn? I’m confused. I don’t want to sound harsh but I don’t come here to see a family snap.
—————————————————-
You may not have used the word bad but the meaning is unambiguous. Pretty clear to me, anyway.
So let’s discuss context within Burn. Be careful because you are on thin ice as some have already tried to put a limit on what Burn is. Take a look at Jim Powers’ contributions. So what, for you, is the context of burn? Have you seen then essays? Theres enough variety in them to muddy any sort of restriction on what Burn should be. Burn’s strength is its variety, and this photo adds to that variety.
JonathanJK..
no offense taken whatsoever..and i do understand where you are coming from….sometimes this forum really reminds me of a family sitting at a long dinner table with everyone trying to talk at once…jabs going back and forth…everyone trying to make a point…please pass the potatoes…
i am familiar with your work, i like your blog, and i do plan on publishing your photographs…i might even have to start publishing more than one photograph per day here on BURN because so much interesting work is coming in..or, should i say, flooding in…i actually now seriously need a full time staff just to help me organize it all…i do my best to try to “play” one thing and then another in the spirit of good discussion and “flow”….funny, i was worried in the beginning that i would not be able to do daily updates…now, i could do hourly updates i think….crazy…
BURN is by its very nature a diary…the “plan” changes by the day and cannot be predicted nor set up as if i had 365 singles and essays all spread out and then decided, as i would for a book or exhibition, exactly how it should be presented as “a year of BURN” … however, by the end of 2009, i can do just that in print form….so, now we are sort of looking at an online “contact sheet”….what should be interesting for all of us is to see how it all plays out…i am producing now a short multi media piece on BURN for the Look3 festival coming up in June (where oh where is the time coming from to do that??)…kind of a “best of BURN” or some version thereof….
by the way, i put my very best digi work back on to compact flash cards….solid state technology….store easily…no moving parts…..you can put your whole life’s best of the best in one little box…put it in a bank vault …and, oh yes, make prints, prints, and prints…
cheers, david
RAFAL…
i think Anton was supposed to send you a screen shot of my edit for you…i did not think your final edit did you service..however, as you know , i will lean towards the photographer and particularly on your essay which is so personal…i do not want to publish it until you see my edit and approve or we go over it together…we can jockey a bit back and forth..this is tough online…do you have Skype??? that would make it easier..
cheers, david
Hey David,
I liked it but I tweaked it a bit :) ….I sent the suggestions to Anton yesterday. Have a look.
Rafal, stop trying to make force your point which stems from reading between the lines. Now that you’ve realised I didn’t say ‘bad’, you’re trying to insinuate I meant to use that word. I used the word ‘Boyo’ not to make comment on your age, but your juvenile response. But at least you’ve realised I’m not attacking the snapshot aesthetic.
Regarding context, I’m relatively new here so I can only go off what I’ve seen recently, and I haven’t seen anything like this. But I do know I’m still interested in placing my work within Burn’s confines alongside it. My intention is not to limit what this place is trying to do either.
Regarding Jim Powers contribution, I think he has interesting things to say, and he certainly ignite debates, constantly pushing, and pulling on the fabric of what Burn is.
Hi all..
First and foremost, congratulations to Charles, Mascha, Felix, Grandma Carver and all the rest of the family. Congratulations as well to the extended Burn family who are truly buoyant over the arrival of this beautiful and long-awaited baby. Congratulations also on a gorgeous photograph that i just love.
I could and perhaps should leave it at that. But here’s my thinking on the subject of personal family photos here at Burn. Ok, you all really like each other. Here’s this family photo and it’s a good one so it’s easy to at once rejoice over the birth of your friend’s baby and also oooh and aaah over the photograph. But then say a family photo is posted that’s not such a clear winner or it pushes the envelope in some way or it’s ambivalent or whatever the photographer brought to the table is not as easy to get our arms around as this one is. Ut-oh. What then? Would any of us besides the one who shall remain nameless have the guts to say so? Poor Jonathan got attacked for his OWN subtly phrased thought that maybe this photo shouldn’t be here. I had a similar thought and that’s why i didn’t post till now. I was relieved that the photograph was a good one and so i could safely say that. But more of the same? mmm…it’s not the photographs i have a problem with, it’s the potential for conflict of interest. The ability of the “extended family” here at Burn to be able to objectively view and criticize photos of its own offspring. I don’t count myself in this extended family. But i would also have a tough time penning anything but glowing observations of a family photo by one of the “family”. And maybe there’s no mandate to be an objective critic. Just sayin’…it will be interesting to see how it goes.
Wonderful work, Charles..kudos!
best:
kat~
Charles, I am in the middle of the Tanami Desert in a town called Yuendumu, which is pretty much the geographic center of Australia. This is Aboriginal freehold land that belongs to the Walpiri, Amantjerre and Pinjtubi people. It is a great privilege to be here.
Out here where the sky is like a huge dome over your head and you know that the yapa are actually the stars come to earth, you can’t measure a human life in terms of the environment.
Yet the entity and infinity of your son is intuitively understood and loved by the folk here for they know that a human life is everything and everlasting.
So when you next look into Felix’s face know not only is he you and your father and his father and his fathers fathers father, but that somewhere along the line he is a star come to earth…
Congratulations brother, many blessings to you and your family
And it is a beautiful image for everyone and anyone that has ever felt a heart beat, cheers
I was preparing myself and my cameras to the birth day of my son, and when it happened my biggest surprise (along with the excitement, emotional experience, physical fatigue, overwhelming joy etc, etc) was that I didn’t take even one shot. Somehow I felt that if I hide behind the lens glass it would be a kind of treason towards my family.
This is a beautiful image, symbol of motherhood. Congratulations to you and your family.
KATHLEEN…
one of the problems with online discussion, for me anyway, is that people either forget what was said prior or just did not read a particular comment or came into the readership long after a thread was developed…for example, we discussed for several weeks the conflict photographers have with family and relationships with hundreds of comments coming in…so, two days later , we are on to something else, and a new readers pops up and says something like “why don’t you ever discuss on BURN the problems photographers face with relationships?”….see the problem??…
now Kathleen, have you seen a run on “personal family pictures” published here on BURN??? Rafal is getting ready to publish a personal family project that he has been working on for a year, but i hope you do not hold that against him or me since most of us have been watching his progress towards an important book all along..
when Charles (who i have never met) told me that he was about to become a father, and at the same time i had seen his book Cypher (have you?), he was worried that somehow he would/could get lost in fatherhood and basically said to me “what will i do for a project now?”…as he said clearly in his caption for this picture, i told him basically to drop all things and just concentrate on the new baby…i went further and gave him a specific assignment for BURN to photograph this new baby and told him i would publish it if good…i just assumed that everyone remembered my missive, but obviously this was before “your time” here……so, this is how this picture came to be published here on BURN…just like my old self portrait assignment months ago….
but, it is a funny thing about the potential for “conflict of interest” as you put it…choosing a photograph or photographer for reasons other than the quality of the picture is what i assume you mean…Kathleen, i have never met , or even heard of, 95% of the photographers i have published here on BURN…however,some have been ex-students(as now with Andrew Sullivan), one old friend (Medford), and even my son Bryan had a funny photo of my bald head which got a laugh on the first day of BURN….conflict of interest???
i suspect that every editor of every magazine since time immemorial has dropped in a picture or two or an article or two that was indeed a “conflict of interest”….i wish i had time now to list all the examples of this in Time, Natgeo, New Yorker, Vanity Fair, New York Times Magazine etc etc…human nature will often win out over the illusive “objectivity” we all purport to have…hard to resist the temptation to put in a good word for an old friend for example…
however, my dearest Kathleen, i play it very straight in the long game…for example, i have voted AGAINST very good friends who were trying to join Magnum …this is the toughest of all decisions…it hurts…but, i did not think their work was strong enough…period….but we are still lifetime friends…conversely, i have voted FOR people i might not like personally…but their work was strong…period….
the long and short of it…i do not think “conflict of interest” (your term) will play much of a role here…and by the way, you ARE a part of this family, and i will not publish you either unless i see a photograph that will hold up one way or the other….interestingly, and you may have noticed, most of the folks who write here are NOT the same people who publish pictures here…go look at the list..most submissions are from readers who never write…
as for you…keep writing and keep shooting….i like the kids playing in the water picture…hmmmmmmm
cheers, david
Hi David..thanks for the long response.
No, i am sorry, i wasn’t here for the previous discussions on this subject. And yes, it is the problem with online communication that scrolls down and off forever into the ether. No, i have not seen “Cypher” but have seen it mentioned and look forward to seeing it. I have a lot of respect for Mr. Peterson’s comments here which i always make sure to read because he always contributes something very worthwhile to the discussions.
mmmm..i expressed my thoughts and doubts not as a criticism of this family photo or any other that might follow, just as a cautionary note, especially for myself..asking whether we/i could criticize a family photo objectively and i feel i could not. You reassure me on that level by answering my question “is objectivity a mandate?” and is conflict of interest necessarily a bad thing?. The answer apparently, “Not always…”. Good-o. Perhaps sometimes i take things way too seriously. Note to self..lighten up.
Yes, i have noticed that submitters and writers here are often drawn from two different wells. That’s a good thing. I think Burn is utterly fascinating and that’s why i stay and that’s why i write here. Because i have been learning from all of you, thinking, self-examining, thinking some more and reassessing. It takes many years to have the self-confidence to know enough to relax. i admire your attitudes and your personalities. I am even learning from those who are prickly and defensive.
So post away, David..and i will continue to look, enjoy, learn and give feedback..hopefully not step on too many toes as i am wont to do from time to time. But tell me to go to hell and that’s fine.
I am not here with the deep yen to be published. i am here to learn, learn, learn. You know why i sent that photo to you and it wasn’t to be published on Burn. Not that i am sorry you like it. From what i see, you’re all way more accomplished in technique, theory and also very far along on the idea of essays which i don’t even feel close to doing. Some of your work is drop-dead mind blowing. This is not false humility. It’s seeing how far i still have to go. And boy, is it far.
So, anyway, thanks again and that’s it..just thanks. :)
kat~
KATHLEEN…
you are a most welcomed contributor….and please please know that it is not about agreeing or disagreeing at all…i.e. .i am very sorry we lost Jim Powers with whom i rarely agreed, but who always forced us to explain our motives..always a good thing…your humility is becoming and all of us have a long way to go…”arriving” is just not something that happens, at least not as far as i can see…
cheers, david
JONATHAN, KATHLEEN,
Thanks, I’m glad you sparked more discussion than just the congratulatory posts. We’ve discussed family and relationships quite a bit here on Burn and Road Trips, and of course David is currently all about family with his new project. Seriously, if DAH felt this image wasn’t strong enough (and he did throw down the gauntlet) I wouldn’t have been upset if he didn’t post it. That goes with the territory. But I do think the pic speaks to something deeper than just me and my own recent personal experience, and BURN is covering lots of the ground of human experience, good, bad and in between. Not to mention the light, composition, etc aren’t half bad either :))
LISA,
That is so beautiful what you wrote. I will print that and put it on my wall. This last year I’ve been working with a shaman and ayahuasca (the Peruvian “vision” plant medicine) on some deep healing of health problems plaguing me – quite possibly since or before birth (not to mention all the earthly things I’ve done to myself since then). I had the shaman sing for the health of Felix and his mother, and my health as a father during the last set of ceremonies I did in mid-Dec. As the shaman chanted for me I could see Felix’s beautiful bright face and knew everything was going to be okay. I see that now in his eyes, that depth of beyond the here and now.
KIRILL,
Well, Felix came two weeks early and I was lucky that I had packed a camera bag a few nights before with what I wanted. Actually, I had just bought a second used Leica M8 (my other was back for a repair and I wanted a backup anyway) and it actually arrived only an hour before Mascha went into labor (it’s the camera I took this pic with). Serendipity. But pics or no pics it’s not important. What is is the magic and mystery of it (the actual birth is somewhat akin to a freakin’ sci-fi movie!) and being there. Crazy to think we all got here that way!
And where is Jim? I think he’d like this picture….
Best,
Charles
Aaaahhhh,
You have captured the beauty of mascha, the peacefulness of felix, and your love
for both in one shot…
Hug them both and get some sleep.
Your very best project to date, Charles. And that is really saying something. Well done, my friend. Beautiful work.
Charles
No, not half bad at all..heh..
enjoy your wonderful family..the photo truly is a keeper..
best:
kat-
Kathleen,
I dont see why you couldnt judge a family photo objectively. I believe any photo can be judged by the same standards. Ultimately, a successful photograph is one with layers of meaning, and that can go for anything, including family photos. I know that the thing I hoped to achieve with my project was a lack of sentiment. I Think that often this can be the problem with family photography. The other thing I wantd to get away from is time markers. I didnt include photos of family events which could be pinpointed: birthdays, etc. What I did try to do was paint a mood. One of my favorite works is Sabine by Jacob Sobol. Looking at the work, the mood is palpable. Its a mood of the place, a mood of time, a mood of the relationship between Sabine and Jacob. Nevermind that it was in a way family photography (they weren married but lived together). Thats just a label. Or Ray’s a Laugh. Both works are ones that dont really give us time marker photos (weddings, birthdays, parties, anniversaries, etc) and through that they make us wander about the meaning of the moment. The labels like family, street, docu, PJ, art, landscape…those are just labels. Take landscpaes. Ive never liked Ansel Adams. However Im a huge fan or Mark Power. Both shoot landscapes but one for me is illustrative the latter has more depth. This could be applied to any genre. Back to family snaps, Im a huge fan of intimate phootgraphy and infact if you have the time check out the flickr group I curate dedicated to vernacular family photography http://www.flickr.com/groups/lfa/
Kathleen,
one thing Jonathan wasnt was subtle. He was quite blunt basically saying that a family photograph has no place on Burn.
Jonathan,
I never said you were attacking the snapshot aesthetic. Family photography doesnt always mean snapshot aesthetic, and infact some of the work from the photographers I listed is not shot in the snapshot aesthetic at all.
Again, your words
——————————————-
Why was this selected for Burn? I’m confused. I don’t want to sound harsh but I don’t come here to see a family snap
——————————————
If you claim you werent attacking the snapshot aesthetic, then you were atacking family photography. Would you be so against larry Towell’s family work winding up here? You didnt come here to see family snaps afterall.
RAFAL,
Really looking forward to your essay. I’m currently starting (or trying to start) a look at my archives for my next book. I’m looking at everything, and it will include family photos, some happy, some sad, alongside famous celebrities, old friends, etc. I think if we can’t photograph our families, then who can we photograph? Alas, I haven’t always been so up on it, but making sure now it happens.
Best,
Charles
ps: I think Jonathan and Kathleen have atoned for their sins :))) I like the discussion (best to question everyything in my book), though you are right Jon’s initial query was a bit blunt to say the least.
Charles :))
As i wrote you this morning, at least 1/2 of my life’s photographic work (and probably written work) has involve the story of my family life, and will make up a big section of Ordinary Things (the book i hope to finish after russian photo project) as well as Faces…i mean, there’s no getting around it….we carve out from the life that carves us out…and for me, that would be marina and dima…and over the last few years, to a lesser extent, my students and friends…i mean we’re all spies in the house of love anyway, right?….
shit, i prefer Family Albums (i love looking at people’s pics of their families) to most of the photographic stuff out there, in mags, in pages, on line, between covers, ’cause somehow we detect, the unfiltered expressions of our lives….or filtered, but its all there…i think family snaps and family work is the life blood of photography…aren’t we all really doing that anyway, only extending our families under the guise of ‘the other’ ;)))
hugs
bob
Charles :))
As i wrote you this morning, at least 1/2 of my life’s photographic work (and probably written work) has involve the story of my family life, and will make up a big section of Ordinary Things (the book i hope to finish after russian photo project) as well as Faces…i mean, there’s no getting around it….we carve out from the life that carves us out…and for me, that would be marina and dima…and over the last few years, to a lesser extent, my students and friends…i mean we’re all spies in the house of love anyway, right?….
shit, i prefer Family Albums (i love looking at people’s pics of their families) to most of the photographic stuff out there, in mags, in pages, on line, between covers, ’cause somehow we detect, the unfiltered expressions of our lives….or filtered, but its all there…i think family snaps and family work is the life blood of photography…aren’t we all really doing that anyway, only extending our families under the guise of ‘the other’ ;)))
hugs
bob
Charles, this post has stuck with me since the days before I was a father. I read it now, two months into fatherhood, and the words seem especially prescient. Thanks for sharing, and I hope Felix is doing great.