Fleeting faces – A modern family portrait

The notion of family has evolved from large tribal affiliations of nomadic times into the large family with three generations living comfortably under one roof to the present-day small nuclear family of two parents and their offspring. Today, even this unit is often living in single-parent homes.

Given this fragmentation within contemporary families, which includes my own family, I found the classic approach to family portraiture impossible from a practical standpoint but also completely inadequate as a truthful representation of my family.

In traditional family portraits, all family members gather in one place and arrange themselves with the help of the photographer in a way that reflects their particular family structure. Grandparents are almost always seated in the center, with everyone else surrounding them like a protective shield. Importance, reverence, and relationships are coded into the arrangement for family members to decipher even decades later.

With this project, I asked myself whether it is possible to create a portrait of the contemporary family that better represents the splintered reality of the early 21st-century family.

Starting in 2008, I've photographed members of my extended family individually every four years. The resulting portraits are the raw material for experimental ways of creating family portraits. 

Fleeting faces – A modern family portrait

The notion of family has evolved from large tribal affiliations of nomadic times into the large family with three generations living comfortably under one roof to the present-day small nuclear family of two parents and their offspring. Today, even this unit is often living in single-parent homes.

Given this fragmentation within contemporary families, which includes my own family, I found the classic approach to family portraiture impossible from a practical standpoint but also completely inadequate as a truthful representation of my family.

In traditional family portraits, all family members gather in one place and arrange themselves with the help of the photographer in a way that reflects their particular family structure. Grandparents are almost always seated in the center, with everyone else surrounding them like a protective shield. Importance, reverence, and relationships are coded into the arrangement for family members to decipher even decades later.

With this project, I asked myself whether it is possible to create a portrait of the contemporary family that better represents the splintered reality of the early 21st-century family.

Starting in 2008, I've photographed members of my extended family individually every four years. The resulting portraits are the raw material for experimental ways of creating family portraits.