A DAY IN THE LIFE OF A NINE YEAR OLD

​In this series, I have set about to depict the carefree day to day life of a 9 year old. This was a fun opportunity for me to play mom actually as I was babysitting this cute family for 2 weeks while their mom and big brother were in New Zealand. While I am balancing my checkbook, preparing for finals, cleaning up the house, and running the kids to and fro I got a glimpse of hectic life can get for this family. Kaleb would come home from school and a new adventure would begin. No matter where he is at he is having fun, trying new things, and enjoying childhood. I’m so glad I got to witness that. While spending time with Kaleb and photographing him throughout the day some of that carefree spirit rubbed off on me and I felt a joy with photography that I didn't realize I was lacking at the time. The stress seemed to drift away, my mind began to open wider, and more creativity entered in. I remembered why I love taking pictures.

This project took me so long to find the right vision. At first I was thinking so literal with the story but the images just weren’t coming out with power until I stepped away from my story board and just took my camera around and followed Kaleb around taking photos without any prompting. Once I took this photo I KNEW that it was going to be the first in the series and it changed the whole direction of the project.

​By this time Kaleb was used to me following him around snapping photos every second I could. So I really love his expression it’s so comfortable and you can tell this is so routine for him.

​I could do a whole series called Trampoline if I wanted to. We had such a blast playing in the sun and doing tricks on the tramp. This boy was totally in his element. This photo to me truly exemplifies him, the long hair, the expression on his face, the words on his shirt, and the body position. It is just a snapshot of life that I can’t stop looking at. It makes me think of all the small moments that just happen so fast that we don’t even give a second thought to. I love those moments.

This photo is just classic boy and his dog. Kaleb loves baseball but usually doesn’t have anyone to practice with after school. He does have this nifty net that can bounce the ball back to you so you play catch with the net. I played softball in high school so every day when Kaleb got home from school we would actually play catch for at least an hour and it was a blast. I felt like this project helped me really be present with him.

​There are just some photos that HAVE to be in black and white-and this is one of them! My favorite things about this image are the variety of tone that is in the whole frame. Another example of those small moments that we let pass by without a second thought.

​Thanks for actually taking the time to look through all these images and reading my comments about them. I really am proud of this series of images. This project took me out of my comfort zone and pushed me to create a story with great imagery. I hope you enjoyed it too!

Katie