I’m always delighted to be asked to photograph people in any capacity. There are some sessions however, I feel I’ve waited a lifetime to do. The Blake/ Williams family was one such occasion.
I’ve known Anysa since we were in year 1 at primary school, that’s a lifetime. In turn, her family over the years came to feel like my extended family. I spent a huge portion of my childhood and teen years at their home, and I was always made to feel welcome. Anysa, sister Keli, dad Roger and mum Margaret were such an amazingly tight- knit little unit, family was everything I felt.
Magaret and Roger had an innate understanding of what made a great childhood, Margaret in particular radiated warmth and maternal instinct, a quality I see in her girls. Anysa now has a beautiful blended family. Circumstances intervened and incredibly sadly, Margaret lost her battle with cancer before I was able to photograph their family. I feel incredibly priviledged then, to have been asked to do this for them now. I feel justified in saying I believed I could capture honest, beautiful and sometimes hilarious images because I know and love them.
Here is a small selection from a delightful afternoon.