I love it when we get the opportunity to be present when a family gets together to spend time with each other and have some fun. All three generations for this particular shoot were home for the holidays and requested to be photographed together. The Wallis family are a wonderful family which shares a good sense of humour, which came through much laughter and many smiles during the shoot. It was fun to watch the youngest play with each of their cousins, to watch the adults also involved in the play time too.

I remember having special moments like these with my own extended family, when we would join my aunts and uncles, my cousins, all of us playing at a hall, in a park or even in one of the families’ homes.

I was having a discussion with a friend recently, about why it is that there seems to be a break-point from these family gatherings at some point; my family had it when my grandmother passed and my friend experienced the same thing. I imagine that family gathering only becomes important when you can introduce your children to your parents, and when your parents are gone, only your children remain as the central focus, and if that happens before you have grand-children, and all of your cousins have fallen away from contact, then the reasons to gather become fewer.

The Wallis family were gathering to preserve the family unity, to unite one another from different parts of the country and to see each other in Toronto where they had grown up before work and education took them in separate directions. Having their photographs taken in a park in Toronto, while they were all together is a wonderful way to commemorate the event. I think that they appreciated having the chance to put down their phones, and not worry about who was going to be the one documenting everything and thought it a wonderful thing not to have that responsibility, instead be free to enjoy the day fully, take part of the games, and be silly too.

I love photographing families, recording those wonderful connections, and the history. If you are thinking of getting your family together for photographs, please contact us.

Thank you, the Wallis family, for choosing us to photograph your beautiful day.