Let's do a quick experiment. Close your eyes for a moment and think about your child's face. What expression did you see? Is it that uncontainable flood of excitement they get at a new discovery? Is it that coy hint of sadness when they want your attention? Is your child being sweet and innocent or are they up to something....? Is it the meditative reverie they slip into when they don't know that anyone is watching? Is it that secret smile that they only show to you?

Do you have a photograph of this expression?

These are the things that Pepper had in mind to capture when she began shooting families and children with a photojournalistic approach - to document a family's unique personality and tell the story of their relationships in pictures. Or, as one of our clients put it:

"They capture who you are instead of just what you look like!".

Making Photos FUN Again
Now think back to when you were a child having your picture taken at a portrait studio. Fond memories? A good time, was it? If you're like most people, having your photo taken was probably a chore at best, and sheer torture for some. Stuffy, unfamiliar studios, stiff clothes and the requirement to sit still and appear angelic simply do not appear on most kid's Top Ten lists of fun things to do. What's worse, while the results of these kind of 'captive' sessions can be cute, they very rarely capture anything about the personality of the subject. We think that's a shame, because to us that is photography's greatest power.

We've done away with the studio all together! In order to catch someone in the act of being themselves, we have to put them in an environment where they are comfortable enough to be themselves - their own! Whether this is at the family home, at the beach, or even a day at an amusement park, we tag along with families and kids in order to catch them playing to each other, rather than to the camera. Because we document rather than direct, we actually reward kids with attention for being themselves rather than doing what we ask. The result is both more fun and more revealing than any studio session ever could be, and we find that kids actually look forward to having us come back!

The albums that result project a vivid, genuine, and often quite emotional snapshot of the life of a loving and dynamic family.