Doing It Domestic

When I began photographing my family, I thought of it as a study of something foreign to me. Starting a family was the farthest thing from my mind, yet somehow, here I was with a 14 month old, pregnant with another at the age of 26, and also beginning my final year of graduate school. It seemed as though all of a sudden I blinked my eyes, and there they were. I created something I never thought I would want in my life, this little unit with a mom and dad. It wasn't what I had planned for myself. I didn't grow up with my father in my everyday life, so watching my husband be a father to our children is the most fascinating thing to me. I'm witness to something I missed out on in my childhood. I always thought I was fine with never having my dad around, however, watching this role of "dad" play out by my husband for over the last ten years, I think I did miss it. Creating this body of work has been a way for me to capture all of this while it unfolds before my eyes, then ponder these relationships within our family, and finally prove to myself that something like this CAN indeed exist. My childhood had many ups and downs from the day I can remember, and honestly, there are quite a few things I'd like to forget, almost erase from my mind if I could. Yet here I am, capturing as many moments as I can of my own children's childhood, in the hopes that they will never forget. I want them to see their memories, long after they may have been forgotten. I feel like in a sense, having children has opened up the possibility for me to have a second childhood, and I'm loving every second of it. I can only hope that they are too.