Hey, how about we get rid of the word “should”?

Well, this little guy and I think we should. 🤣

21st century technology and the power of social media - I am not going to lie. I love social media. And I hate it. I am full of contradictions. I love that I can keep in touch with my family & friends who literally live across all continents. I love that I can share my love for the weird and the wonderful with whoever wants to listen. I love that I can connect at quite considerably soulful levels with people who I have never met. I love that I can watch goats faint, grandmothers rap and the “10 most awkward Golden Globes moments ever” all in the space of 10 mins. I love it all.

But it also all drives me mad. I find the endless misunderstandings, trolling, pretend-scientists, pretend-politicians, pretend-specialist (or even the real ones!) hard work. And I think I find them hard work because I am getting a recurring message that I should be doing this, shouldn’t be doing that, that life should be about this or it shouldn’t be about that.

I have friends who voted for Remain and others who didn’t. I have friends who drive the latest electric cars and those who will always buy the latest plastic gadgets. I have friends who haven’t eaten meat for decades and others who can’t live without a sizeable rare steak on a weekly basis. Am just wondering whether at the end of the day, we all have our passions, we all have our beliefs and none of us have got life “righter” than anybody else. Sure, you have an electric car, gone Vegan and never take a plane? Brilliant, that’s one passion, one message. Someone else may drive a diesel-4x4, have 6 long-haul flights a year and eat Meat-feasts pizzas at weekend, but also actually dedicate their whole lives to their local community.

Do we not just all have our own passions, different passions. Different aspirations?

I and my clients have our passion. We love to embrace our vulnerability. What we want, through our images (I take these images but they do become my clients’!), is to contribute to the constant messages that are put out there, about what we should do and shouldn’t do. What we should drive, or not drive, eat or not eat. Wear, not wear. Documentary photography, candid photography, which is essentially producing images about real emotions, real memories (good and bad), could help to lessen the power of “should”.

We wonder if we filled social media with images that said “Hey, this is what real life actually looks like. You don’t need to be a party animal, you don’t have to have a Pinterest-perfect house, you don’t need to keep up with the Joneses… you can be and have all those things, but you don’t have to”… imagine if that pressure could dissipate. How would that affect our mental health across generations, across economic, religious and cultural backgrounds?

Documentary photography (or candid photography) isn’t for everyone. Some people prefer lifestyle images, some people prefer more traditional images, some people prefer studio images. I know insanely talented artists who all produce different types of images, different types of “messages” for all different reasons. And there is really no “should”. It’s whatever appeals to you directly, whatever speaks to your soul, whatever makes you feel calm, feel good, feel un-challenged.

But for us, for our souls, the following images are images that make us feel calmer, because they are real, because they don’t trigger any sense of guilt, any sense of “should”…

Your home doesn’t have to be tidy.

Your daughter doesn’t have to look instagram-pretty.

Your floor can be messy.

Your photographs can be about personalities, not looks. But they can also be about looks and not personality. No “shoulds”!

You can also leave that ironing.

You can spend hours looking at your newborn’s toes and do nothing else.

All hell can let loose all at the same time. It does for everyone. Some people just hide it.

You don’t always have to cook meal they are going to love.

It’s okay for them to watch tv during the day.

It’s okay for them to be bored.

And finally, you can lose yourself in the moment. In your moments.

Still scrolling! Well, thank you! And to thank you, here is a 20% discount on my “Year in a life” package. It may seem like an investment. But you and I could create images that could fill your walls with your perfect imperfections, we could work together to create a mini documentary film celebrating your life, we could work together towards a vision that helps make us feel that little bit better. And if a year sounds like a leap too big, then my day sessions are the next best thing.