Children portraits are usually one of the most pleasant photography subjects for all of us. Typical childhood themes like playing, running, laughing, playing with pets are approached by almost all children photographers. Some artists decided to go even further, and apart from dressing up, napping, playing or swimming, they explored darker childhood themes like insecurity, fear, loneliness, up to sexuality and death.
I discovered two amazing photographers offering a different view on the way that children are portrayed in contemporary media and society.
Jacqueline Roberts is a photographer based in Luxembourg. Her work, inspired by her own children, was featured on art books, novel covers, rock albums and photography magazines. You can explore Jacqueline Roberts photography on her website.
Sally Mann is America’s Best Photographer of 2001, as named by Time magazine. Her children photography book “Immediate Family” (1992) creates a really strange universe. In a black&white Eden-like environment (the family’s remote summer cabin along a river), she took photos of her three children (all under the age of 10), exploring the typical childhood themes, but also the darker ones. The release of “Immediate Family” book came with intense controversy, and media even censored one of her photos.
Photo credit Jacqueline Roberts
Photo credit Sally Mann
Photo credit Jacqueline Roberts
Photo credit Sally Mann
Photo credit Jacqueline Roberts
Photo credit Jacqueline Roberts
Photo credit Jacqueline Roberts
Photo credit Sally Mann
Photo credit Sally Mann
6. March 2011 at 8:59 pm
Hi Children create beautiful photographs. I think creativity is all about inspiration and working from an unconscious level but also having belief in yourself to capture emotion. I love creative spirit and write about it on my blog and in my books on artistic process on http://www.lynemarshall.com.au and http://www.artclique.com.au
Lyne Marshall artist and author recently posted..Finding the right combination
16. April 2011 at 12:35 pm
Wow! great kid photography here. Really inspirations. I love to see these kind of great work. Thank you very much for sharing with us your superb stuff.
26. April 2011 at 7:23 am
Sally Mann is my favorite photographer of all times.
Her courage, camouflaged as naiveness, to portray her own children as exposed adults, with such overwhelming gestures, poses and looks in their eyes is admirable.
It’s not easy to position yourself so far apart from your family and create such works of art.
“Immediate Family” is a must read for all people photographing children – theirs or others.
Thank you for introducing Jacqueline Roberts. Her work is amazing.
I especially like the first one you attached here above.