You can see my pictures of some of the notable guests here:

http://www.tatler.com/bystander/events/2011/september/ilovegorgeous#/4863/image/1

What is photography about? For me, it’s about capturing something intangible – a personality – on a sheet of paper. This is not a simple thing to do. Personally I’d rather try and squeeze an elephant in a Mini. We are complex and interesting beings, each of us unique in a population of countless billions – even children. In fact children’s personalities are even more complex because they’re constantly changing.

So anything that makes a photograph LESS able to represent that individual spark in a single moment makes it less powerful, less able to do its job – less of a photograph. Any element that pulls the viewer’s attention away from the magic of the subject. Any distraction. Like colour.

Without even getting into fashion considerations, just think about how surrounded we all are by colour. It strongly influences our behaviour, which is why marketing people spend so much effort designing their brand’s colour palette. All day, every day, we are all utterly saturated by colour. And when colour is taken away, we know something out of the ordinary is happening, and we prick our ears up. We pay more attention to the colour free thing. And if that’s a photograph, we give it our full attention. Which makes it easier for the photographer to give us a flavour of his subject’s personality.

As an example of what the best black and white photographs can convey, have a look at this. With images as strong as these, colour would just get in the way. Like I said – “black and white photography IS photography”. Here’s one of my recent images:

Which of course means that they sell the most fantastic natural skincare, clothing and bedding for kids. But what I really love about their approach is that they’re building a local community around ethical parenting. If you’re a mum in the Ealing area, you can attend one of their coffee mornings to meet other mums, hear from parenting/birthing experts and eat your bodyweight in Fairtrade biscuits.

I know what I’d rather be doing on a Wednesday morning that braving the Central Line. Damn you, Y chromosome!

Here’s the image:

And here’s the framed photograph:

Louise has chosen a large print here, 36″ wide, and loves the way it provides a focal point to the room. You can’t help but notice it as soon as you walk into the kitchen, and she’s had a ton of compliments. I’m very proud to think that I’ve added something to this home of real meaning to the family.

Here’s an example:

http://goo.gl/xf9Wd

And here are a load more:

http://goo.gl/jteHq

Just imagine how excited your child would be to get one of these things,  made from one of their own creations. They look very lifelike and of course they’re totally unique…once Isaac gets beyond the scrawl stage, I think we’ll be trying this out…

Father Apprentice is my kind of blog. It describes itself as ‘an online community of new and used dads who want to be great‘ and what dad doesn’t want that?

I found reviews of dad bags, songs to sing with kids, things new dads worry about, a daddy Christmas wish list and even a guide on how to smoke a cigar.

I am daddy, hear me roar!

• no TV
• no playdates
• mandatory daily piano or violin practice
• no grades less than A

You can read more about her parenting approach here. You can buy the book here, if you want to really get into the details.

She rejected a home made birthday card from her 4 year old daughter because it wasn’t up to acceptable standards. When her older daughter was rude,  she publically called her daughter ‘garbage’ .

Her system gave the results she was after though. Recitals at Carnegie Hall, admission to Ivy League universities, all the academic success many of us would want for our kids.

Personally, I couldn’t stomach that approach. It feels brutal to me. I don’t value exam results over lazy Sunday mornings in bed with Isaac, or repeated readings of ‘Green Eggs and Ham’, or visits to the zoo.

What do you think?

Some misguided people still like it, but we know better. We’re tired of seeing this stuff sold up and down our high streets. We know that a generic piece of fabric or paper can never reflect our lives like a home, or a favourite park, or somewhere our kids love to play. Anyone can buy a white background, but you can’t buy our lives in any shop.

We’re not getting started on selective colour, or big sloppy borders, or ‘pop art’ colour treatments…yet.

But we’ve had enough of lazy images by photographers that don’t care enough about their subjects to look for the real story, or to find ways to tell it meaningfully and attractively. At least I have. Anyone else feel that way?

http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/gallery/2010/oct/23/boy-to-man-20-years-photographs