Finding Inspiration
One year ago yesterday I realized I made a booking error in our wedding business, and the busiest weekend of the year for South Asian Weddings (at least for us) was without a wedding to capture. I had just started exploring the idea of moving our family photography business in a more unposed style, but we were having trouble fitting portfolio building shoots into our busy Fall Wedding season.
I decided to embrace the opportunity given to me and asked my Facebook friends if anyone was interested in a free family session that weekend with the caveat that I wanted to shoot in a documentary style. Nathalie reached out and told me about her parents, Marie Jo and John, and that Friday I knocked on their door for a completely impromptu session.
Capturing Mary Jo & John
Having never met them before, I explained that Nathalie and their other children wanted me to capture a typical day at home together- coffee at the table, letting the dogs out, relaxing in their favorite chairs. As I prepared my cameras (I wear two, each with a different lens), I asked about how they met. Mary Jo has a lovely French accent, but John was the chattier one that day.
He told me how he was stationed in Europe when he met Mary Jo. They married and traveled the world together, growing their family along the way. The joy and fulfillment of their journey together was evident. 
Capturing them made my heart sing in ways it hadn’t before when behind the lens. It was enduring love. It was love that truly understood through experience the ups and downs, trials and tribulations, of marriage. It was companionship. It was respect and appreciation for the life they created together. They showed me pictures of their children and grandchildren, beaming from ear-to-ear with pride. The session lasted less than an hour, but I could have stayed all ay listening to their stories.
What We Leave Behind
Nathalie messaged me earlier this month to tell me that John passed away after a long-fought battle with leukemia.
She thanked me again for the pictures from that day last year, but I told her I owed her my gratitude for the opportunity to capture her amazing parents. Meeting and capturing them became the inspiration for launching The Inspired Storytellers brand. John is survived by a very large family, including young grandchildren. His memory will be everlasting in the stories his family will tell and the pictures they can pass around a table. I am honored to have been able to capture some of those pictures.
