Sofa shoots

I’ve long believed in the value of simplicity; I think people are at their best when they aren’t bogged down with complications. Thinking about this with my photographer’s hat on and being a parent, I was working out a way of photographing a family in a simple, honest, stress-free, fun way and coming up with an image that would look good on anyone’s wall..

I wanted a documentary style so people could always recognise themselves and their environment and the image would be a record of that time.

I figured that the one thing everyone has in common ( in the UK anyway) is the sofa!

What a perfect little trap for wriggling toddlers and how un-scary a prop for disgruntled Dads;)

The sofa is the heart of the home. We take it for granted but often the sofa is where we play out our lives more than anywhere else; curled up with a book, in front of the tv with dinner on our lap, snuggled-up with our partner, exhausted sleeping with a newborn baby, kids upside down watching cartoons, teens lined up like little birds playing x-box, toddlers learning to stand, learning to climb, Dad’s spot, Mum’s spot, the dog’s spot..

So I started the ‘Sofa Shoot’ a simple record of a family on their sofa and i continue to love how different each shoot is. There’s no need to tidy up, no need for special outfits. it’s a ‘come as you are’ all pile in kind of shoot and for 20 minutes we have a riot of tickling, laughing, laying all over each other, seeing if the pets want to join in and generally being creative in the contained space that is the family sofa!

And the final image always looks great! ( usually on the wall behind the sofa)