Documentary Family Photography at the Taipei MRT | Taipei Family Photographer
I’ve always wanted to do part of an outdoor documentary family photography session at a station on the brown line of the Taipei MRT because it’s above ground and its windows allow for some amazing city views. I’m thrilled that my wish came true with this family!
The Best Taipei Locations for Documentary Family Photography & An Outdoor Documentary Family Photoshoot in a Tienmu Park | Taipei Family Photographer
People typically imagine outdoor family photoshoots in Taipei as posed photos either in a beautiful location or in front of an interesting landmark that screams TAIWAN! As a documentary family photographer, I approach them a little differently. Yes, I do like beautiful locations or locations that help tell the story of your life in Taiwan (night markets, Dihua Street, etc.), but I’m not interested in having people just stand in these locations and look at the camera. The resulting photos would say something about where you are and what everyone currently looks like, but they wouldn’t say as much about quirky personality traits (that may change soon!), your relationships with one another, and what life currently feels like in this particular place and time. To get at these deeper parts of your family story, it’s better for everyone to spend time together in a place that’s meaningful or a place they’re curious or excited about, doing something they enjoy doing or simply exploring.
A Travel Day in the Life Session in Tainan & What a Day in the Life Session Really Is | Taipei Family Photographer
The story of an entire day has a variety of tempos, from energetic play to tender hugs, and the only way to capture this range plus all of the important details that will help people recall their beloved people and places is time. Time to notice patterns, time to know and anticipate behaviors, and time to artfully capture relationships and connection. In other words, time to learn a family’s story.
Documentary Newborn Photography in Taipei: A Different Approach | Taipei Family Photographer
Why do I love doing documentary newborn sessions? Because it’s the beginning of an interesting story. The story is about a family making space for its newest member, and all of the tension and tenderness that ensues from this shift. The story looks different, in many ways, for families who are welcoming their first baby than for families who have already been around the block a time or two. In both cases, the story reveals itself if you just let families be together. There is nothing I could tell people to do, no way way I could wrap up or pose a baby, that would give me more impactful images than a family existing in a space with their newest member. The key is to trust that the story will show up (it always does if you let it).
What’s interesting about at-home family photography in a Taipei apartment. (A lot!) | Taipei Family Photographer
Many of us have internalized the lie that the first list is more beautiful and represents what childhood should look like. I’m tired of should, though. I’d rather focus on what’s beautiful and meaningful about what is. The second list is what my life is, and it’s what I have learned to love because it’s the backdrop for so many happy memories. At the end of the day, that means more to me than horses galloping into the sunset.
What to Do During a Documentary Family Photography Session—Taipei Style! | Taipei Family Photographer
People often ask me what they should plan on doing during a documentary family photography session. Everyone knows documentary-style photos are about capturing real life, but there is sometimes a feeling of disbelief that real life is interesting enough to photograph without some planning.
When a Sense of Place Matters: Capturing Taipei in a Family Photoshoot | Taipei Family Photographer
As a documentary photographer, I look for the supporting details of the family story almost as much as I focus on the people and their relationships. I know that twenty or thirty years from now, your kids will get a warm feeling when they see something about where they lived that triggers a happy memory—the favorite ice cream at FamilyMart, the kind security guard in their building, the way fruit was always on the table in a big bowl with a chip on the side. This is Place.
Multigenerational Documentary Family Photography | Taipei Family Photographer
Family stories are history-making stories, though. The moments that make up a family legacy may not be of interest to the world at large, but they’re everything to the people who are touched by that story. Time marches on and memories fade, and when people look at the raw materials that make up their life, they realize: moments matter most.
Saying Goodbye to a Year in the Life Family | Taipei Family Photographer
There are things about Taipei that you grow to love if you live here: tiny alleys with crumbling brick walls (always covered in plants), the smell of tea eggs in a 7-Eleven, the kindness of the people and the way they smile at your kids. I look for these things because I know this is what makes life good here, and I know how wondrous a lot of these things seem if you come from a place where 7-Eleven is gross and sad. I’m so happy I had time to gather these details for this family’s story, so they’ll be able to remember this beautiful, crowded, welcoming, one-of-a-kind place they called home for a short time.
The Beginning of a “Year in the Life” Family Photography Project | Taipei Family Photographer
These photos are from a first session for a quarterly Year in the Life project (4 sessions a year), and I like to think that by the time the year is up, I’ll have captured one small chapter of this family’s story for them to look back on together. I imagine my photos being conversation pieces at family gatherings, prompting laughter or gentle teasing. I hope people will say this is where we came from. This is what led us here.
Documenting Baby Teeth Smiles | Taipei Family Photographer
I’m no longer interested in using my photography to make a grand statement about who I am as an artist. I find more artistic fulfillment when the photos are less about me and more about stories about families—family bonds, family sagas, family lore. This is a more universal conversation about themes that are greater than me. This is a deeper pool for me to swim in.
Family photography at the Jianguo Flower Market, Ximending, and other crowded places. | Taipei Family Photographer
I love that clients who value similar things find their way to me—I end up working with some very adventurous people! Here are some photos from a recent documentary photography session that, over the span of two hours, covered: Daan Park, the Jianguao Flower Market, the Jianguo Jade Market, the MRT, and Ximending. These are storytelling photos that incorporate places in Taipei that are important to them, but they also can’t help but be beautiful family photos. Photos with a group of people who love each other always are.
Birth Photography at Loving Care Birth Center in New Taipei City | Taipei Family Photographer
The moment your child enters your life and takes their first breath is life-altering—it will never happen again. Blink your eyes once and your baby has already changed at an alarming rate (or so it seems). I remember very little from my own two births and would give anything to have more than just one grainy cell phone image of me meeting my son for the first time.
Moments worth documenting happen everywhere—even FamilyMart. | Taipei Family Photographer
I often joke over the fact that so many of the families I work with include a trip to the neighborhood FamilyMart or 7-11 in their session time. I seriously could make a book with these convenience store photos at this point, which tells me that there’s something important going on here. I think the neighborhood convenience stores are embedded in our family routine now. When we look back on these photos, we remember hot summers in Taiwan, the smell of tea eggs, and picking out our favorite ice cream from the freezer in the back. We think of the way our kids skipped down the street thinking of the treat that was waiting for them, and then the sticky popsicle kiss that we got afterward. These are the gems.
A Documentary Family Photography Session at the Taipei Zoo | Taipei Family Photographer
I photograph a lot of beautiful, unforgettable moments, but I don’t shy away from the tears and the hard work of parenting. The stories worth remembering and passing on are the ones that are whole, with all the juicy bits included.
A Mother-Daughter Documentary Family Photography Session in Taipei | Taipei Family Photographer
I consider it a special honor to photograph single parents living out this mission. Most of them are insanely busy with having to work and be the sole caretaker of their child; there usually isn’t another adult around to take photos of them with their kid. I want to make sure that they have some photos to look back on with them in the picture. I want them to see how hard they work, how much they love and are loved.
A Year of Documentary Family Photography in Taipei | Taipei Family Photographer
I’ve been documenting the lives of families—of all shapes and sizes—in Taipei for about a year now. I had no idea when I started if anyone would be interested in letting me hang out and be a photojournalist for their family for several hours, and to be honest, documentary family photography still isn’t all that popular in Taiwan. But as far as the families who understand the storytelling power of documentary photography and want it, working with them is a privilege. It feels as if they’re taking a chance and letting me see their whole heart.
Taking My Time with Family Photography | Taipei Family Photographer
I love to see how defenses fall and behavior becomes more uninhibited the more time I spend with a family. There’s a good chance a child will end up jumping on the bed naked, and yes, I will photograph it for you.
A documentary family photography session at Dihua Street in Taipei. | Taipei Family Photographer
When we make photos to remember and cherish our lives as they are now with the people we love, we slow time just a tiny bit by weighing it down with our attention. This is a scientific fact, I’m sure.