Family

In 1955, the year I was born, the great photography patriarch Edward Steichen produced an exhibition of 503 images by 273 photographers from 68 countries for the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. He titled it, The Family of Man, after a line in one of Carl Sandburg’s book-length poems, The People, Yes. Sandburg wrote a prologue to a book that resulted from the exhibition. Here is an excerpt of the poem from Sanburg’s prologue to The Family of Man:

“There is only one man in the world
and his name is All Men.
There is only one woman in the world
and her name is All Women.
There is only one child in the world
and the child’s name is All Children.”

People sometimes ask if I have a favorite holiday and I always say, Thanksgiving. In the U.S., it’s when family and sometimes a few friends and maybe their families would gather around a table for a feast. I was prepped for the holiday in Catholic school with art projects. We drew pictures of Native Americans and Immigrants, known as pilgrims, gathering to share food and stave off starvation. This was before incoming waves of immigrants stole the land and slaughtered the native peoples. Of course, I knew none of that in grade school. It was a time of innocence and naivete. Back then, I was just one of All Children and it’s that spirit that sticks with me today as I think about family..

I am scheduled to make a family portrait this week. I know the matriarch of this family from my work as a journalist. We have become friends over the years, but I have never met her husband or their two children. I am looking forward to making their family keepsake. To prepare, I asked if they had a favorite place or somewhere meaningful to them. My friend sent me a couple of photos from the campus of St. Catherine University in St. Paul. I scouted the location so that I would know what lenses, light modifiers and stands to bring. The campus is gorgeous at this time of year and presents several locations to work with. I can hardly wait.

Family photos can be tricky. They require direction from the photographer to ensure that the poses keep the viewers’ eyes in the frame. If off-camera flash is used the photographer must be careful not to cast distracting shadows across the subjects. And yet despite the directions and the posing, you want the family members to interact and display natural expressions that reveal their individual personalities. All of this should be done within a reasonable time to avoid wearing out the family members. Add to the mix unpredictable weather and you see the complexity of family portraits. Yet I love making these images.

If home is where the heart is, then family is what you make it. I have many families. There’s the one I started with: Mom, dad (both deceased now) and two older sisters. After a late divorce my dad and his second wife gave me another sister. Then there’s the family I created. My late wife and I had two children. She was from a family of 10 kids, eight of whom are living, and I’m still close with them and their families. Then there is my girlfriend for the past five years and her family. I also have my martial arts families: jujutsu and Aikido, which are distinct but equal. And now I can add my dance family at Cinema Ballroom in St. Paul, Minnesota, and by extension, the ballroom community around the country. Some might think my use of the term family in this context diminishes its meaning. Not for me. I see myself as a member of The Family of Man. I don’t like everyone in the family, but I care for each person and I revere family units of all kinds. Taken together, they make the tapestry stronger and more interesting.

I hope to meet you and your family one day. Perhaps we can make some portraits together. In time, perhaps we can join together to make a better world.