Family Days

Reportage photography - shooting through the moment

Whatever I am photographing, I tend to favour a documentary or reportage approach to my work. Rather than intervening directly and setting up events for a posed photograph, my aim is to capture a moment in a narrative fashion. For some subjects, this is the only way to work. Young children and camera shy adults are often very resistant to any kind of formal direction and once the camera has been spotted, the natural flow of events is usually thwarted! Spontaneity, fun and uninhibited behaviours are lost. To capture these aspect of life, success is more likely if I sit back and watch unobtrusively, wait and anticipate events with my camera(s) ready. Working in this way requires a lot of patience and trust. I often “shoot through the moment”. When things are happening, everyone is relaxed, my presence as a photographer forgotten or unseen, I lift up my camera and start taking images. This results in a multiple sequence of shots which may be used together or selected through for the one “winning” picture.