Is Documentary Photography Actually Your Thing?
You’re scrolling. You’re looking at photos. You’re thinking of booking something for your family. And somewhere between coordinating outfits and wondering if your kid will cooperate for five whole minutes (unlikely), you think to yourself - do I actually want it to look like this? It’s just not… us.
Lifestyle photography is gorgeous. I totally dig it. I still offer it. I love that it gives you warm, connected, ‘together’ images that feel good to look at and easy to hang on your walls. It’s familiar. It’s comforting. You can send it to your mum and post it on Facebook. It’s what we all expect when we think ‘family photos’.
But for some of us (maybe you?), at some point, this representation of life starts to feel a little underwhelming. Not wrong… just not the whole picture.
Documentary photography isn’t about optimising the moment or shaping it into something more ‘photogenic’. It’s about letting the moment be what it already is — even when it’s awkward, ‘ugly’, loud, chaotic, boring, emotional, not happy, or all of the above at once.
And here’s the honest truth from my point of view.
I get more personality from someone in a documentary shoot. I see who you are, and how you love. I see how you live and when you struggle. It’s genuine. It’s real. It fits my ‘zero fucks to give’ ageing process where I don’t want to mess around with curated beauty.
I want to see YOU. YOUR family. It’s subtle. It’s vulnerable. It’s art. (Yes, your child picking their nose on the couch while staring at a screen is art.)
There’s joy, love, pain. Shame sometimes. Frustration. The frame is cluttered and filled with ‘unnecessary’ information. But it all tells the story of you.
That’s the part people don’t always expect - or vibe with.
Documentary photography doesn’t promise neat outcomes.
You don’t get to control how everyone behaves.
You don’t get to edit the harder bits out of the day.
You don’t get the comfort of knowing exactly what the photos will look like.
And honestly - that’s why it’s not for everyone.
Some families want the guidance. Some want the reassurance of structure and guarantees. I get it - you want the ‘we nailed it’ feeling at the end. Lifestyle photography is perfect for that.
But if the idea of being photographed exactly as you are — in your own space, in your own rhythm, without performing - feels relieving rather than terrifying…
If you’re more interested in remembering how this season actually looked than how it would look if everyone behaved and smiled together…
If your family’s personality matters more to you than all of you sitting still and posing…
Then documentary photography might suit you more than you think.
It’s not better.
It’s not worse.
It’s just honest.
And honesty, at the right time in your life, can be very powerful.