An experiment in hiding faces

Something that I struggle with on a daily basis in my biz, in the current world climate, is posting children on social media. People who know me would say that I overthink this to a neurotic level, and I can't even kick up a fuss - I DO. I always ask my client’s if they are comfortable with me posting their shoots, and (hopefully) I create a safe environment for them to say no if they want to - but I find myself still plagued with how much to post. 

The crux of the matter is that without posting or showing my work - there will be no more work. So I have tried to strike a balance between what I feel comfy showcasing and what I feel is appropriate for my families. I overthink, I worry and I want to protect my much loved clients (#anxietysufferer).

With this thought at the back of my mind, I approached one of my recent shoots with the idea of upping the amount of moments I captured without their faces. The client would still receive their normal face filled gallery, but there would also be options that created the same feeling of love and joy - without seeing it on their face. 

I think I’m in love. I changed nothing other than upping the number of the photos I took, and bloody loved the challenge of creating art without the biggest indicator of emotion - our faces. It quietened a part of my worry to have faceless options, and my amazing client still received an epic gallery filled with images just for them to treasure.

Perhaps striking a balance is the way forward for me, while I work on my own shit around this. I’m so grateful to have a space to experiment creatively and clients that trust me to enter their space and capture their intimate existence. I don’t think I’ll ever take that for granted!