But this year, as you train your lens toward baby’s first taste of squash or your six dogs in festive, matching sweaters, I also encourage you to make pictures of ordinary moments.
Photograph your family standing in the kitchen in the midst of conversation and meal prep. Photograph the table while it’s being set or just before you sit down. When a family photo session starts, take images just before and after the staged pictures so you can capture people in a more relaxed state.
When I helped my mom clean out my grandmother’s house this past summer, we found photographs my uncle Wayne had taken at major winter holiday celebrations. As I looked through these images, I saw that he had often photographed scenes at the edges of the action. A saltine snack shared between granddad and granddaughter. A baby held at rest while older children play. My aproned grandmother, mid-sentence, a silver container dedicated to “the holiday jello” in her hands. I treasure the rich, textured portrait of my family seen through the photographs it hadn’t occurred to anyone else to take.
We only get so many special, traditional family events, like holiday celebrations, in our lives and the subtleties of those times can easily escape memory. Use that frame to guide you in your photography this season.
The holidays my uncle documented so wisely felt at the time of their unfolding like they would always be the same, like time couldn’t touch them, and I often took them for granted. In reality, my family traditions and celebrations have fundamentally changed shape over the years in response to deaths, inter-state moves, and other changes we couldn’t imagine.
The level of detail a photograph can record is incredible. From the rich details contained in my uncle’s pictures of ordinary, in-between moments, I can access information that didn’t seem important at the time but that now feels fundamental to who I am as a person.
The images contain knowledge and comfort I didn’t realize I would need later. They tie me back to a place and people, visible proof that I came from somewhere. The detail-rich, ordinary images also help me access the spirit of those times far more deeply than the pictures that show a smiling face against a nondescript background.
To be sure, milestone photographs of special moments are important—keep making them when you can. My beloved maternal grandfather and I were alive at the same time for 13 years and spent a lot of time together. However, within my family photographic archive as I know it, only one picture of the two of us together exists. We are side by side, our backs turned toward the camera. Document key relationships and moments photographically. You’ll want those pictures later.
Despite the number of photographs uploaded to the internet every day, there are still plenty of important pictures that don’t exist. Each of us can probably list at least a few photographs we wish we had made.
Carry this reminder forward with you beyond the season. Do you have any photographs of a loved one engaged in their beloved hobby? Consider how you and yours spend most of your time and make images of those moments, too—drop off at sports practice, board game night or family reading time. Humble moments form the backbone of each season of our lives. When the season passes, I’ve found photographic documentation of those moments becomes invaluable.
Sarah Pfohl is a dis/abled, chronically ill assistant professor of photography at the University of Indianapolis and a Public Voices Fellow with the Oped Project. Her photographs have been exhibited around the world.
All views expressed in this article are the author’s own.
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