Subtleties.

Dad said he wanted to show us the proper way to die.

Stoically, he said it was the last lesson he could teach us. That’s what dad did. He spent his life teaching us lessons in his own subtle ways. He was a man of few words and I so wish I could have documented him as I document others now. Hidden, stepping outside my role as his daughter, so I could observe properly.

Dad loved in non-verbal ways and I don’t mean grand hugs or blown kisses. I mean he loved through a look, a gesture, a lesson on navigation by getting us lost, or a brief declaration to ‘let Amelia speak’. His subtle ways of teaching us lessons are desperately too subtle now. I have few images to hold onto.

My passion as a photographer is to document the subtleties of parenthood. Children should have visual reminders that they are loved, even when their parents have a difficult time making their love evident.