Mac

Mac at 8 mos.

Someday Mac will grow up. It's something I turn over in my head every time I take photos of a baby. Will this be the picture that gets copied 30 times and every aunt and cousin gets one in the mail? I better get an honest moment, his true expression, in case it ends up being the picture that defines for him what he was like as a baby. Maybe it will pop up over and over in every photo album... until all of a sudden he's 30 and it doesn't anymore. After everyone has cleared out their albums and he's finally found a desire to reconnect with his past he might ask his mom what photos she's got stashed away. Maybe she'll pull out one of mine and he will realize that it's one of the images of his childhood that gives definition to his personality in some small way... "You were always such a pensive baby, with flashes of joy between looks of deep thought."

I can't wait for the babies in my photos to age, to photograph them again and again and see how their personalities evolve and if there are remnants of their baby-selves bundled into those personalities. Will Mac be a pensive person with flashes of joy? Or will he evolve into an out-going joker who smiles all the time?

Watching someone grow up is one of our chief life lessons. It is only after doing so that we can understand our own beginnings, and the way that our parents see us.

Mac, just a few weeks old

The Art of Seeing Each Other

The art of seeing each other every damn day. I don't just mean getting out of bed in the morning and glancing at each other while we think about what we'll eat for breakfast, or what we are going to wear to work. I mean looking at each other and seeing the joy in your partner's triumphs and also the pain in their struggles. It means knowing when they need you to leave them alone, and when they need you to get in the way... and finding the energy to act accordingly. Every. Damn. Day. If you've found a person you want to make that commitment to there is joy in it, but also responsibility. You're not just taking care of yourself anymore. You're taking care of a relationship that brings meaning to who you are and what you do with your life. As Carl Sagan said, "For small beings such as we, the vastness is bearable only through love." Don't forget to look at each other and really see that.

Fabiana + Joseph

One of the most inspiring weddings I have to share with you was that of Fabiana + Joseph. Their story in itself is an inspiration, hailing from Mexico and England, and meeting in Asia before getting hitched in New York City in 2012, these two had a wedding that made it's own rules from beginning to end. Fabiana arranged for us all to have rooms at the Gershwin Hotel in NYC, and travel together to the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens on the day of the ceremony. She hid her colourful dress under this black coat until we arrived. Her husband Joe painstakingly crafted their ring boxes out of origami, and most impressively - Fabiana's entire bouquet! They got married by a pond of Koi fish to the gentle strumming of Beatles music and afterwards took a stroll down Cherry Lane for photos in the blooming cherry blossom trees.

This wedding was a major inspiration to me when I was planning my own 3 years later. Fabiana had shown me that a beautiful wedding doesn't need a white dress or a certain number of bridesmaids. It can be whatever you want. It is, after all, YOURS!