Featured Project – Kelly Manweiler’s Most. Beautiful. Collaboration. with Vesna Zic-Côté

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Today we are featuring Kelly Manweiler’s project called Most. Beautiful. Collaboration. which is a play on the acronym MBC which stands for Metastatic Breast Cancer. Kelly became friends with Vesna, and together they are documenting Vesna’s life with MBC in order to raise awareness and support.

You can see more of Kelly’s’s work on her websiteFacebook, and Instagram.

Lisa: What a beautiful collaboration you and Vesna have. As a friend, how do you approach telling her story? Do you try to be objective or do you embrace that personal connection you have while capturing her life?

Vesna and I met when she contacted me to create a memory quilt out of her husband’s old punk band shirts. In addition to being a photographer, I also have a small quilt making business where I make custom memory and memorial quilts. She mentioned in her inquiry that she was from Ottawa, so I looked her up to see if we were connected at all. When I did I found out that she was living with Metastatic Breast Cancer.

My wait list for quilts is around 2+ years. I didn’t know a lot about Metastatic Breast Cancer (MBC), but I knew that time might not be on our side. I wrote to her, admitted that I’d creeped her on FB to see if we were connected through friends and found out she was living with MBC. I offered her an immediate spot and we started working together on the quilt soon after. The process can be pretty long, with a lot of back and forth, which gave us the chance to get to know each other.

As I got to know her I realized that she wasn’t just living with MBC, she was advocating for changes to the health care system and working to support women who live with or will one day live with MBC. She was giving talks, travelling to present her story, raising funds, all while balancing treatment, and life as a mother and wife. She’s pretty amazing. One day I mentioned that I was also a photographer and brought up the idea of collaborating on a personal project together to help her spread her story, if that was her goal. So our friendship started during the quilt making process, but has grown through the Most. Beautiful.Collaboration. When we first started working on the project, I asked her to make a list of what she wanted to share. She made a list of things from her personal life and a list from the medical MBC side of life. We work with our different schedules to try and cross off all the items on the list, which grows and changes over time. When we do a series for the project I accompany her either to some type of appointment or personal event/daily activity. I just follow her lead and document what happens as it happens to the best of my ability. I’m not a fly on the wall pretending I’m not there, that would be disingenuous. Especially during a personal series where we’re talking and hanging out. With each series of images we write what we think of when we see the photos from our unique perspectives. The photograph taking is an attempt at objective documentation, but the write up with each post is definitely subjective. It’s an important part of the project to share our very human subjective observations.

Leslie: Beautiful images and project. How has photographing this project over time changed how you approach photography in general?

I think my technical approach to photography is always changing. I’m always trying to improve and know I’ve got a lot to learn. From a personal approach, I’ve always felt really passionate about photography and the importance of documenting moments. I think there’s a lot of weight in even a simple photo, so I don’t feel like that has changed, but has become more enriched and reinforced.

Lacey: I see that most, but not all, of your photographs for this project are in black and white. What makes you decide whether an image will be black and white or in color?

I didn’t enjoy colour editing for a long time and felt much more drawn to Black and White (likely due to years of black and white darkroom love). Over the last few years though I’ve been working on colour and have become quite fond of it. Sometimes I’ll edit an image in both colour and bw and let Vesna choose, but usually I make my choice based on what it brings to the image. If colour is part of the story, or adds to in/enriches it in some way I’ll opt for it, but if it doesn’t than I’ll create a BW edit. I feel like sometimes colour can take away from the pureness of a moment or add unneeded distraction. There have been a few times where Vesna has requested an image in colour because there’s meaning for her in the colour and in those cases I’ll go back and do an alternate edit.

 

Jenny: Such a beautiful collaboration and images! There must be times where it was very difficult to photograph this story, especially as it is that of a friend. How do you remain professional in those times, or have there been times where your emotions go the best of you?

I don’t feel like there’s much of a division between professional Kelly and unprofessional Kelly. Aside from curtailing my swearing tendencies, I’m pretty much just who I am no matter who I’m with or what I’m doing. In an earlier session, where I documented Vesna doing self injections, I remember asking her if she wanted me to be a wall or a person when faced with big emotions during our project together. She said that part of the reason she wanted to work with me was because of my genuineness and that she wouldn’t want me to be any other way. So that’s how we roll. When she told me the story of the day she got her diagnosis I wept, and she wept. I don’t think it’s unprofessional to feel. I don’t think my emotions can ‘get the best of me’, I think they are the best of me. They are what allow me to sometimes see moments that others might not, to appreciate the light and dark, and to recognize how fleeting each moment is. I would never want my emotions to dominate a situation, but I don’t think they should be completely locked out.

Erika: Beyond raising awareness for MBC and telling her story outright, do you have an argument or concept that helps guide you while shooting, culling and presenting the images for this project? What do you see as being the end state for these images? Website? Book? Exhibit? Usage in collateral material for a related non profit?

My overarching goal is to do some good in the world. In this case it means helping Vesna tell her story and work toward change and understanding. The most important thing I’ve learned so far is how little I know. The statistics are frightening; what’s more frightening is how totally ignorant I was. When faced with new information I realized how many people I’d lost to MBC without even realizing it.

I go into each situation and document as I would with any other documentary session. I cull the same way too. I don’t limit myself on how many images to save from a session, but base my selections on technical quality, aesthetic, and emotion or moment. So if an image isn’t super crisp, but captures something meaningful then it stays. I share the images with Vesna and we choose our favourites for the post, write up our observations or ideas and share.

Since we began the Most. Beautiful. Collaboration. we’ve provided some of the images to help campaigns by The Ottawa Hospital’s Cancer Program, Rethink Breast Cancer, and The Pink Ribbon Project Fundraiser to raise funds and awareness. We hope to continue to help where we can. We currently share posts through my website and our various social media pages. We’ve talked about where the project will go when we’ve completed the list or if either one of us feels it’s time to morph it into something else. Two ideas we’re thinking of are creating a small exhibit and the possibility of a book down the line, but for now we’re focused on continuing with what we’ve started.

Thanks for the opportunity to share these images and Vesna’s story!

For more information about MBC, you can check Vesna’s Facebook page.

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Want information on how you can be a featured artist? Check out our submission page for all the details.

Featured Artist – Orsolya Boncser

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Orsolya Boncser is a storytelling photographer based in Hungary who considers family the most important thing to her and seeks to make that the main theme in her photography.

You can see more of Orsolya’s work on her websiteFacebook, and Instagram.

Lisa:  You’ve captured some really amazing moments! What goes through your mind before you press the shutter?

Nothing. Any other time, there’s usually a lot of thoughts running in my head. When I take pictures there are no thoughts, I just try to find that decisive moment when every piece of the picture is together.

Meg: Your images are from a range of perspectives. Do you take multiple focal lengths surrounding each final image or are you just deciding to make the images wide or cropped in as you shoot?

For years, I had only used fix lenses. But it was always a big dilemma which lens to choose when shooting families because I don’t want to miss anything. Children are hoppers so they are constantly moving and I usually work at family homes where I can find myself in the most diverse situations out which I have to make the best.

My main lens is therefore a Canon 24-70mm 2.8 lens. I usually use this one during the family sessions. I rarely crop. The child, the situation, and the environment determine how close I am and what kind of picture is being made. 

Jessica: I love the humor and the surprise element in many of your frames. How do you approach photographing for clients vs your own children?

Taking photos of my daughter is more complicated: when I take photos of others, she wants me to photograph her and when I shoot her, she suggests to shoot others. But otherwise, there is no real difference in my attitude.

I like to work with kids because the communication is easier with them than with adults. Children are straight and honest: they show me when they are fed up and also when they are having a good time. From then it’s very easy to react (or not to react) to a situation.

Kids are born to be free and funny, and I (mostly) understand humor. 

I think one of the most important things in life is humor: that we can laugh at ourselves as much as we can laugh with others. 

LaceyWhat do you turn to for inspiration when you feel stuck?

Difficult question. I have high expectations of myself, and I work mostly alone, so I often feel stuck, but fortunately I’m not one to stay in a pit for a long time. I have always a lot of ideas, the problem is usually that my working time is limited. 

The greatest inspiration and support is my family, they are the ones who carefully listen and make me laugh when I am dissatisfied. A good exhibition, photo project, or book can inspire me too, and I like practicing ukulele or snuggle with my fluffy cat.

Erika: I feel like so many of the images you submitted are such great moments in a larger story. Which of the images you submitted is your favorite? And tell us a bit about the story behind it and what prompted you to make that image.

I’d like to tell the story of the picture of “the hunters”. We were at a kite festival in Zebegény (in Hungary) this summer. My 6-year-old daughter was really disappointed because she couldn’t fly her kite like others. I really love kites so I tried to help and calm her down when I saw the family with these extraordinary boys in the crowd. The boys carried not kites, but plastic guns on their back. I had  feeling they would use it. So I crossed my fingers and I was waiting for the perfect moment –  while I was holding our kite in my other hand with the crying kid. The weather was perfect, windy and cloudy so my kite flew high quickly, the tears suddenly dried up for a moment and the boys shoot. 

That was only a second and I felt really lucky and happy to have caught the moment.

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Want information on how you can be a featured artist? Check out our submission page for all the details.

 

 

 

Featured Artist – Frederikke Brostrup

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Frederikke Brostrup is a family documentary photographer in Copenhagen who has been working in this field for eleven years. She loves “real life and all the everyday-poetry that’s all over childhood and family life.”

You can see more of Frederikke’s work on her website, Facebook, and Instagram.

Celina: You mentioned being into documentary photography for the past 11 years, how and when did you get into family documentary photography? And how do you stay motivated and inspired to keep shooting families?

I have been doing family photography for 11 years. I started with short in home sessions, like 1 hour-sessions and I was in the beginning especially drawn to kids’ portraits. During the last 3-5 years I have been doing more and more documentary and found all these lovely international communities and workshops for family documentary photography, which inspire me a lot. I got a lovely mentor in Kirsten Lewis, and I have been working with her over the last 2 years. And new friends all over the world is great too. 😉

 

To me family life is the nerve in the society- this is where we lean to be a part of “the group” – the love, the conflicts, the hard work, all the repetitions, the forgiveness, the lessons….it will fascinate me till I die – and every family are unique but we can still reflect each other! I will never stop doing family documentary photography!

Leslie: How has documentary family photography changed over the past 11 years? What do you like least and most about the transition?
 

I think that documentary photography is growing worldwide. More and more photographers are drawn to real life more than the constructed and posing photos. And I love the way we feed families’ courage to see their family as they are, instead of what they want it to be or look like. Real life rocks 🙂

What I like least….is difficult because what’s not to like about this transition? If I should mention one thing, it is when photographers not doing documentary are calling their work documentary. And it’s not because I am snobby about it. Everybody is welcome to work documentary – but we have to be aware of what genre it is… and it really takes time and courage to get there. Like all other kinds of genre! Most of all I hope, that when we talk about documentary photography with our clients, they are not expecting posing pictures where the family are wearing matching colors. Nothing wrong with that – but it is not documentary photography!

 

Erika: I love how your images seem to show smaller, less dramatic moments with more subtle emotion and gesture but the images still grab your attention because the overall composition is so strong. What are your best tips or favorite practices for improving one’s composition skills?

 

Thank you that’s beautiful words you put on my work! It’s all about finding your own voice. For some photographers it takes years, and for others it’s just there from the beginning. Both are normal. Some photographers find great inspiration watching other photographers work, and some lose themselves doing that. I think it’s so important to go with your own feelings and not trying to make photos like the other photographers. Because you can’t, and you shouldn’t. Get inspired of composing, light, angles … watch and learn!

 

But what you want to tell in the frame…is yours! Is it the drama, the humor, the tenderness, the relationships….this is where you will find your own voice! Practice Practice Practice! Go to workshops where you get critic and practice – and maybe find a mentor to share your process with.

 

Heather: What moments are you drawn to while shooting?

I am especially drawn to the feelings! And the children!  All the feelings that are not told but shown is fantastic to capture. It can be anger, jealousy, shyness, sadness, joy, peace…..  And often the feelings are so strong that I feel them too. That’s crazy but that’s when I know that I got a strong moment…. and if the light is perfect too, I can’t help slipping a small sound of joy! 😉 It’s magic!

 

Jessica: What do you feel are your greatest strengths as a photographer? Your biggest opportunity for growth?

 

That’s a difficult one…I think it is that I am kind of fearless. Meaning I am not scared of getting close, not scared of the families feelings. Not scared of conflicts, anger, grief, bedrooms, naked kids crawling on me, breastmilk in my face, dads snoring half naked in his bed and all these funny and recognizable moments! And then I think that I have a good feeling about other people’s limits and my own limits, which is important when you work that close. I will work till I can’t walk anymore! 😉

 

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Want information on how you can be a featured artist? Check out our submission page for all the details.

Featured Project – Ade Oshodi

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Ade Oshodi is a stay at home dad during the week and a wedding photographer on the weekend. He’s spent the past two years documenting his daughter’s life and has turned it into a long term project about telling the story of her growing up.

You can see more of Ade’s work on his website and Instagram.

Erika: What have you learned about yourself/humanity/your daughter as a part of shooting this project? And which of the images submitted is your favorite and why?

Toddlers are honest in their interactions with the world. For the most part, the dramaturgical presentation of self is not presented for others but solely for them.  Authenticity is central to their character and it is for this quality what makes her most interesting to me. Two months before Asha was born, my father was dying and I documented him on his death bed along with my mother and siblings interactions with him. What I learned from both situations is that in the beginning and the ending of lives, humans are most vulnerable.

Authenticity gives way to vulnerability and vice versa, when those two qualities are presented in photographs, they transcend the human condition; it connects us with each other.  This particular project and the types of photographs I like to make in general have taught me to present my authentic self: the desirable and not so desirable parts to the world in hopes of reciprocation for those I am photograph.

Which leads to the image I like the most from this collection; my favorite image is of Asha reaching for is a hard copy of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s essay “We should all be Feminist.”  I fancy this particular photograph because I agree with the premise of the essay; the image probably says more about me than it does about her.

Heather: What made you decide to shoot them all in black and white? Such great connections you have captured between your daughter and those around her.

 It is strange because I believe that I see in two extremes or better said I like my photographs to have strong shadows and contrast for black and white images and strong contrasting colors for color photographs, anything in the middle don’t interest me as much. For this particular project I like black and white because I believe that it forces me to produce stronger images that read well to the eye.  Also, I like the uniformity of black and white throughout this project.

Meg: I’m noticing the angle you’re shooting a good majority of these are from higher up, as opposed to being on her level. Is there intention behind that, and if so, what makes you choose that angle to shoot from?

I am as stay at home dad on the weekdays and a photographer in business on the weekends, so most of the photographs of Asha are made while parenting.  I wish there was some great aesthetic choice on why I shoot from high or some highly introspective answer like: “my subconscious is telling me that I am the parent, so I should be shooting from a position of authority.” The truth is that my toddler is rambunctious and spirited: busy, running, climbing, exploring, and investigating but she spends a great deal of her time in the house.

In addition, when she and I go out to run errands, most of the time, she goes from the car seat to the stroller or from the car seat to shopping cart. The notion of being confined strongly aggravates her because it is contrary to her spirited personality. As a result, when any door before her is opened or she is not confined in anyway, she runs freely and that means she is running into a parking lot, a street and or climbing in and out of sinks and toilets. So I stay on my feet in order to make photographs and parent at the same time.

Michelle: My favorites are the ones of your daughter outside of the home engaging with, what looks like, strangers. How do you find those strangers react when you go to shoot a photo of them interacting with your daughter? Have you had anyone protest or say no or has it broken the moment you’re trying to capture as they become aware of your camera? Very curious to find out how you approach this.

The camera and a little girl give me access into people’s lives that I wouldn’t regularly be allowed into without question, if only for a moment. There is an image of Asha about to kiss a strange lady; this particular image was taken at an airport in Hong Kong. Part of my process of photographing Asha with strangers is that I let her lead when we are in public places and I follow closely from behind with my camera held against my chest. This is first based on the notion that I never want her to be afraid of strangers, so I all her to freely interact with them under my watch. In my head, I have already written and signed a social contract with adult strangers; which states “if you are going to talk to, play with or she is going to walk into your vicinity you are going to be photographed.” So I photograph her and them without asking their permission.  After the photographic moment expires I quickly assess the situation, if they appear like the need an explanation I give a brief one and move on, for the most part in those situations I don’t have to, a smile suffices.

On the other hand, when she is about to interact with children as I am approaching, if the parents are looking at me or her I raise my camera and nod my head as to ask for permission.  Whether, I get that confirmatory-nod or not I make photographs and then explain if needed. Within the last two years surprisingly, I haven’t had any protest from adults. The only ones who seem to break the moments by being camera aware are other children.

Robin: What is one photography skill you are interested in learning or mastering this year?

Within the context of this project I am emotionally tied to the subject, so sometimes my first reaction is to be in awe as she is doing something clever and I get lost in the moment while photographing. This presents a problem for my compositions because I take my eyes off the edges of my frame and background. I believe the answers to this problem is simple in theory i.e. disconnect form the subject I am emotionally invested in; in practice, it’s not easy to disconnect from my child.

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Want information on how you can be a featured artist? Check out our submission page for all the details.

 

Featured Artist – Grayson Morrow

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Grayson Morrow used to shoot fashion and commercial based photography but felt like something was missing. That eventually led her to documentary photography. You can see more of her work on her website and Instagram. Here is what she had to say to our contributors:

Lisa: Are there any skills/experiences from your fashion/commercial background that you feel benefit or hinder you in the documentary field?

Benefit: Learning how to shoot people with natural lighting.

Hindrance: My desire to pose people in natural light because I just get oh so excited about the certain way lighting hits peoples features. (However, now I actually don’t like posing people).

CarrieWhat is it about documentary photography that made you fall in love? What have you found here that wasn’t in your previous work?

I saw a question recently that asked: “What do you want to study behind your lens?” and maybe that’s a different way of reframing what made me fall in love and search for something that wasn’t in my past work.

Maybe it’s because I’m in my early 20’s and yearn for childhood occasionally? Or maybe it’s because the older I get the more fascinated I become with love and relationships? Maybe it’s both. All I know is that I want to study people, family dynamics, and the love that people have for each other.

Fashion was missing this. Fashion was missing the flawed and complex parts of life that people don’t always show.

MichelleFashion work is often about delivering a perfect version of a specific vision. This work – documentary family photography – is very much about leaving things be and being ok with that. Have you found it difficult to accept the “flaws” in your images with this type of work? Or has it been freeing?

I love “flaws” and imperfections – I’m actually drawn to them. There is a quote by Robert Glover that explains this way better than I ever could:

“In general, people are not drawn to perfection in others. People are drawn to shared interests, shared problems, and an individuals life energy. Humans connect with humans. Hiding one’s humanity and trying to project an image of perfection makes a person vague, slippery, lifeless, and uninteresting.”

JessicaHow do you interact with families during your shoots? Is it a challenge for you because your photography background is so different (not as intimate and personal with the subjects)

I wouldn’t say that fashion isn’t intimate, it can be at times. No matter the genre of photography, hopefully some sort of intimacy is present because you’re engaging with another human.

The way I interact with families mimics my day to day life photography. When I’m around friends or family, my mind is always searching for lighting and moments to capture. You’re guaranteed a solid 15+ pictures of yourself after being with me. People that I’m close with have just accepted that it’s part of the package when they hang out with me.

The main difference when shooting families is I don’t know them prior to stepping into their home, so I try to come in with a warm embrace and start it off with a hug. Other than that, I feel like I’m just hanging out with my friends for a day and taking pictures.

ErikaOf the images submitted, which is your favorite and why?

The kid in the bathtub with the dog – it simply makes me happy.

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Want information on how you can be a featured artist? Check out our submission page for all the details.