THE BEAUTY OF A FAMILY PORTRAIT episode 1

Hello peeps; it’s your Damilola Kuku. But this time around I’m here to advocate for the injustice done to moments that pop up in every family setting. A little bit weird? Don’t be surprised, I’m a photographer with an eye for family moments.

I discovered that certain moments go undocumented in some families, not even in this audio-visual age should such be neglected. There are a whole lot of things that place demands on our attention so much that the timeless memories of certain emotional moments in our families gets forgotten by members of the family – they go around the routine of waking up, greeting each other, going to work, eating dinner, sleeping; waiting for a day, if it ever comes, that they would relish the joy of being a family. There is something that captures deep- seated emotions in a family, and whose voice never die out, consistently calling the attention of every family member to that priceless moment; it is a package in photography, it is called FAMILY PORTRAITURE. 

I strongly believe that every family needs to have a family portrait hung on the wall in the sitting room, probably overhead the TV stand. You are already imagining how one would look like in your home, that’s the idea. There are a thousand and one reasons why you need one in your home. Did you just say you already took one when the kids were younger? Then you need to take another one now that they are older, with more matured and expressive emotions.

FAMILY PORTRAITURE should be a ritual for the family, something you can’t just stop doing again and again. The arrival of the newly born, the teething stage, the tootles phase, the kids old enough for school, graduating, with the smiles, the tears and naughty attitudes… so full of expression that should be preserved forever.

I also believe that a family portrait has a way of strengthening the cord that holds a family together. There was a story I stumbled over lately, it’s a perfect one for this opinion of mine:

Chris couldn’t help but take it hard on Susan this time around, spitting out anger like fire from his mouth. They’ve been married for twenty-two years now with three children; their neighbours least expected them to ever quarrel seeing their home looked just perfect –the envy of the neighbourhood.

“Woman, I’ve had it enough with you this time around,” Chris spits out in rage.

“I can’t continue to live under the same roof with a woman with such an irritating attitude as yours. You flare up at the slightest of my correction, can’t I ever get to correct you? I’m I not supposed to groom you?  My calm attitude has been the preservation of our family up until now, but hear me out, I can’t take it anymore! Leave my house at once! Women like you need to go learn manners from their parents, and that you are going to do.”

He leaves for the bedroom, returns with Susan’s luggage.

“Here,” (he throws the luggage at her.) “Leave at once!” Chris demands.

Susan, who was already in tears by this time, gathers her scattered cloths form the floor.

“Sweetheart please don’t do this to me.” (She reaches for his trouser.) “We’ve come this far for us to break up, I’d adjust for good, I promise” Susan pleads, now in tears and dropping catarrh.

“Go make the adjustment in your parent’s house,” Chris yells at her.

He turns around to go back into the bedroom; he spots, just towards his left, hung over the wall adjacent to the TV set the family portrait frame. Chris stops to look at it as though he had never in his life seen it. Memories rushes down through his mind as he remembers the day a young photographer came to his home, after he had booked a photo session with her: a shot that was to be made into a King-size 20 x 24 enlargement. He saw a unique side to his family as the photographer posed them repeatedly for different snap-shots just in a bid to achieve that perfect shot that would be framed for the family; everyone basked in the joy of the moment as they let down their emotional guards.

Where are the kids today? They had all gone on a holiday to a cousin’s home. But looking at the framed picture, it was as though to Chris his children were at home.

“How would my kids feel on coming back to discover I had divorced their mum, as though I was waiting for them to leave for me to execute a long conceived plan?” Chris ponders within himself. “I don’t want such a memory for my children,” “can I do this if they were around?” Chris thinks to himself.

At that point it was as though the family portraiture was the cord holding the torn apart home together. Chris remembers his pledge to his family on the night after the photo session: a pledge to remain together despite challenges. He takes a look at his crying wife on the floor; he reaches out to her and cuddles her in his arms.

I believe Chris must have appreciated the fact that he agreed at a time to do the family portrait. You are sure never going to experience what Chris experienced; I was only trying to make you see by the story how important a family portrait is to a family.

At supzieXpression, we have a knack for capturing invisible emotions and moments that uniquely defines your family, setting it apart from other families on the surface of the earth. This season (Christmas and New Year) is a perfect time for that shot. Our lines are open (039290635 08027636933 07066490511;) place your calls to book sessions with us; over time you would come to appreciate more than you did on the day your job was delivered to you the beauty  of a family portraiture.

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