This is Why We Are Late
“This Is Why We Are Late” is a project born of frustration. Getting from point A to point B with kids can seem like a Herculean task, even if point A is literally 20 feet from your front door. As the mother of two small children, I’ve resigned myself to being late to school, to parties, to work, to everything. Anyone with a child knows how difficult transitions can be on a daily basis.
On Valentine’s Day in 2015, I could not convince my daughter to go inside her school. She plopped herself down on the steps in front of the door and refused to move because her hands were cold. I was about to explain the logic of going inside to warm up, but decided to take a photo instead.
I realized that these ephemeral moments are what shape the memories of the long days, and short years of childhood. I also recognized that these snapshots were revealing my attitude and mood toward my kids and my life at that moment. When I was frustrated and in a hurry, the kids would reflect that back on me. When I was at peace with my work and my life, they would pause to find beautiful distractions instead of throwing tantrums. These suspended, static moments in the midst of the ebb and flow of the day show how closely family members are connected, and how the at-times insular realm of the family unit can have a subtle yet acute effect on the outside world.
Even though I am a professional photographer, there are times when I relish the freedom of not carrying my heavy DSLR. Walking with the kids is one of those times, so for this project I turned to my ever-present phone with its idiosyncratic photography apps. These effects and filters seem to fit naturally with the atmosphere of spending time with children: unpredictable, surprising and sometimes, otherworldly. The photos in this series are all taken with my phone. The project started a little over a year ago and the photos do not appear in chronological order.
