What subtle messages do we give our children? In Daring Greatly by Brene Brown, Ms. Brown says “One of the best pieces of parenting advice that I ever received was from the writer Toni Morrison.” She goes on to explain that Ms. Morrison was on Oprah talking about her book The Bluest Eye. Ms. Brown goes on
“Ms. Morrison explained that it is interesting to watch what happens when a child walks into a room. She asked, “Does your face light up?“. She explained, “When my children used to walk in the room when they were little, I looked at them to see if they had buckled their trousers or if their hair was combed…When they see you they see the critical face.”…Her advice was simple…She said, “Let your face speak what is in your heart.“”
This portion of Brene Brown’s book made such an impression on me. Every child yearns to know he is loved. Yet as parents, we don’t always let our face light up when our child walks into a room.
This realization has led me to explore Black and White Relationship Portraiture. In this type of portraiture, the love for the child, the delight in the child on the face of the parent or grandparent will be displayed in the photographic artwork we create. That work of love will hang on the wall in the room. The love will permeate that room, even on rough days. The parent’s love might not always be seen in the face, which might be hidden in the portrait, but also in the touch of a hand, the embrace of an arm.
I’m so excited to be taking a year long class in this type of photography from master photographers Tim and Bev Walden of Kentucky. They are brilliant artists and wonderful teachers! We just finished a class on posing. We learned posing fundamentals, and from that starting point, true emotion and relationship can be expressed. As Dakota Fannning says in one of my favorite movies, Uptown Girls, “fundamentals are the building blocks of fun..”
Soon I will looking for models as I put together all these skills and work on my homework assignments. Maybe your family will want to model.
Click here to see images from Portraits by Anne-Marie, Bucks County PA photographer specializing in newborn and relationship photography.
