I've been working on something behind the scenes for quite a while now, and I'm VERY excited to finally introduce you to Spicy Brains, my new neurodivergent-supportive family photography session.
And before anyone asks, yes, I did call it Spicy Brains. Because I am incapable of giving anything a sensible, corporate, Google-searchable name. Case in point: my entire website. But underneath the slightly ridiculous name is something I've put a lot of thought, work and personal experience into.
Where Spicy Brains came from
I've been a family photographer for over a decade, and my approach to photography has grown and evolved alongside my personal life. I've never been particularly interested in perfectly coordinated outfits, everyone smiling at the camera or spending an hour trying to convince kids to do things they'd rather not do. That wasn't the life I lived, and it wasn't the child I had. Why would I expect yours to be that way? I ended up far more interested in what families are actually like together, the way they interact, the things they love doing and all the seemingly boring things that make one family completely different from another.
Spicy Brains comes from somewhere more personal than just my photography style, though.
Neurodivergence and disability are a huge part of my everyday life, and have been for a long time. I've experienced firsthand how much planning, preparation and negotiation can go into things that other families might not have to think twice about, like grabbing a loaf of bread from the supermarket. Or going to a dentist appointment. I've also experienced (frequently, and still to this day) what it's like when an activity or experience simply hasn't been designed with your family in mind.
For us, sometimes the problem wasn't the activity itself, but everything surrounding it. The expectations, the unfamiliar environment, the way information is communicated, the pressure to participate in a particular way, the lack of flexibility or the assumption that everyone can easily follow along with whatever has been planned.
When I started thinking seriously about what I wanted my photography business (and future) to look like, I kept coming back to something. I wanted to return to my original dream for my biz: to provide the kind of photography experience that 22-year-old me and my bub would have loved to have had access to. It was (and still is) so hard for us to access so many things in this world. What if I could help make something, seemingly small in the scheme of things really, a smidge more accessible for families like mine?
So, what actually is Spicy Brains?
Spicy Brains is a neurodivergent-supportive family photography session designed for families who might need family photos to work a little differently. It's still family photography (I know, I know. Seems obvious, but also, sometimes it's not). I'm still turning up with my cameras and photographing your family doing whatever it is your family does, but the experience surrounding that hour is where the extra vibes come in. Not just what we do in the sesh. I've deliberately designed it with neurodivergent adults, children and families in mind.
During the shoot, there's no expectation that everyone will sit still, look at the camera, follow instructions, tolerate things they hate or suddenly become extremely agreeable because a photographer has arrived. We can photograph your family at home, in the backyard or somewhere familiar, follow someone's favourite activity, slow things down, change direction or completely abandon an idea if it stops working. The sessions are led with patience and understanding (friend, I'm not just saying it. I UNDERSTAND).
Some families need a bit more guidance and momentum, while others need me to take a step back and let things unfold. Different people within the same family might need completely different things, and that's fine too. I can work with all of it, because the whole idea is to shape the photos around the family, rather than expecting the family to shape themselves around the photos.
The support starts before I even pick up a camera
One of the biggest things I wanted to achieve with Spicy Brains was to make the experience more accessible before the photoshoot even happens. Because I know that simply telling someone "Don't worry, it'll be fine!" isn't particularly useful when they're trying to work out whether an experience is actually going to be manageable for their family. I hear it all the time myself, and the EYE ROLL my eyes roll is epic.
SO. I built a more thoughtful and supportive booking and preparation process, with clear communication (ND brains know the level of clear I'm talking about), practical information and well-timed check-ins along the way. I've also worked with a qualified Speech Pathologist to develop a set of resources specifically for Spicy Brains sessions.
The Spicy Brains Toolkit includes a Social Story called My Photo Session with Jess, a visual communication board called I Can Tell You What I Need, and a set of printable communication cards. These resources help make the experience more familiar, explain what to expect and provide additional ways for family members to communicate their needs.
They're not compulsory, and they're certainly not intended to replace the communication systems or supports your family already uses. They're simply additional options, designed specifically for a photoshoot, that might make the experience easier to navigate.
There's also a questionnaire that goes beyond the usual names-and-favourite-snacks situation. It gives families an opportunity to tell me about communication preferences, sensory needs, things that help, things that absolutely do NOT help, and anything else that might be useful for me to know. The point isn't to plan every second of the photoshoot (good lord, I could never. Ick), but to give everyone more information, more options and a photographer who isn't turning up completely cold with two cameras and good (potentially off-base) intentions.
But what about the actual photographs?
This is a really important part of Spicy Brains for me, because I don't want the photographs themselves to become some kind of statement about disability or neurodivergence.
I'm not trying to create images that announce to the world that I've photographed a neurodivergent family. I don't need the photographs to prove how inclusive I am, and I certainly don't need to turn anyone's diagnosis into the subject of the shoot. Neurodivergent family photography is still just family photography, and I want to photograph the relationships, personalities and connections that exist within your family. Like I always do. I want the context of your lives in there, including the ordinary things that might not seem particularly remarkable while you're living them.
The support and flexibility happen around the photography, so that the photographs can simply be about your family. And if that means someone spends most of the session doing their favourite activity, someone else decides they'd rather not participate, or we end up doing something completely different from what we'd originally imagined, that's all part of it. Your family doesn't need to become a different family because I turned up with a camera.
Who are Spicy Brains sessions for?
Spicy Brains isn't limited to children, and you don't need a formal diagnosis to book. Neurodivergence doesn't suddenly stop being relevant when someone becomes an adult, and there are plenty of families where more than one person has different communication, sensory or support needs.
You also don't need to explain or disclose a diagnosis to me unless you want to. I'm much more interested in knowing what might help make the experience work for your family, and creating some frankly kick-ass photos.
If you've avoided family photography because the idea of managing everyone's needs while a stranger points a camera at you sounds utterly exhausting, this might be the kind of experience you've been looking for. And if you've tried family photos before and come away thinking, Well, we're never doing THAT again, I'd really love to show you that there might be another way.
What I hope Spicy Brains becomes
More than anything, I want Spicy Brains to make family photography feel like a genuine option for families who have previously ruled it out. Not a special occasion that requires everyone to push through things that don't work for them, or an experience where parents spend the entire hour apologising for their children.
I want families to know that there's been proper thought put into the experience, that they can communicate what they need without feeling difficult, and that a photoshoot 'looking' different doesn't mean something has gone wrong. I want them to walk away with photographs that capture who they actually are together, because families like mine deserve to exist in photographs too, without needing to explain, justify or perform ANYTHING for the camera.
You bring the fam. I'll bring the cameras. We'll figure out the rest together.