This session and these photographs did something to me that no other photographs have. Don’t get me wrong, I love weddings. And part of the fun of weddings is that unique understanding that they are not real life. But. They are not real life.

Long before I was a wedding photographer, I was a documentarian of the small, ordinary parts of life. I photographed things in ways that people were not used to seeing them. Daring my audience to notice things they hadn’t before, to see differently, to experience life differently.

And then the beauty of portraiture crept in and I became so busy documenting those kinds of days, that I forgot to partake in the ordinary days. The objects and expressions that compose most of our lives.

You will recognize some of these people. And I am so grateful to them for not only giving me the opportunity to explore new places, but mostly for the opportunity to enter into such intimate moments. I’ve shown you the farm, and I’ve shown you some sweet family moments. but now what I have to show you is four generations, and an age difference that spans 90 years.

I listened as Amy and Jonelle told me about their childhood, about this house. The things they did there, the things they remembered, the moments and objects and feelings on their toes that were important to them. What they ate and how they ate it. The ways that their Dutch grandmother nurtured them and formed memories and moments that they now share with their families.

I could tell you what everything means. What each and every photograph represents. But that would be my story. And I could tell you Amy & Jonelle’s version of this story. But I’d rather this be your story. That is the power of imagery. We are infinitely connected by our humanity, our nostalgia, our emotion, our family experience.