Simon Dewey is a family and wedding photographer, living in Derby. He is mainly known
for his wedding photography, however he also captures documentary images of every day family life and portrays them in a way which demonstrates the ''day in a life'' story behind them. As a wedding photographer it is clear that when he photographs people he aims to create the relationship he sees off camera, in the shots he produces.
He strives to get natural and often chaotic photos of family life without the backdrop and the lights that create the ''perfect'' family portrait. Dewey forgets about the awkward posing and fake smiles of a set up family photo and tries to capture genuine smiles and spontaneous positioning to create the perfect family photo that not only tells a story but is a real interpretation of family life.
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"It’s about being present in the moment rather than having ideas about what would make a good portrait photo. Its about telling stories, catching natural moments."-Simon Dewey
Image Analysis...
The image is set on the floor up against a white wall with two children surrounded by their toys. The photograph is capturing a conversation between two siblings. The girl is obviously older than her brother and gives off a responsible position as she looks over at her brother, who has a grin on his face.
The image is in black and white which for many documentary photos creates an empathetic and more genuine shot of the relationship captured between two people.
Furthermore the way the boy is looking at his sister suggests that he looks up to her in some way, shown in the way he is positioned next to her. The way they are sat up against the wall cross legged and coated with toys enhances the age of the children and also adds a certain innocence to the picture.
The photo captures the cheekiness of the boy and the relationship the two have with the their body language and this is further emphasised by the nature of the photograph in that its clearly not as staged as family photos can be and they are free to do what they want which helps to show the bond they have and not just an awkward smile.
Also, the way the children have their eyes elsewhere of the camera makes it feel less posed and a more natural set up rather than the often stiff, unrealistic, and rose-tinted positioning of a studio family photo.
My responses...
For my responses I wanted to portray the documentary style of tracking and documentary a day with the family as well as every day routines. I chose to edit them into black and white as not only does is make the images more powerful it also implies the diary style of documenting and making memories of the day.
I also wanted to make the subjects I photographed unaware I was doing so. This made for more spontaneous, natural and candid shots of realistic family life rather than the dramatized or unrealistic pictures in magazines and early portrait photography.
Much of documentary photography is often documenting a day or an occasion however with Dewey's work it is just particular moments that reflect the relationships of the people in the photographs. I wanted to adapt this into my responses and so chose not to focus on making it look like the tracking of day but more so the relational aspect of photography, portraying how we depict kinship within imagery.
A lot of documentary photography is edited and shot in black and white which in my opinion offers a more personal and powerful piece of work. I therefore, edited my response into black and white to show the inspiration from Dewey's work to mine.
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