THIS IS REPORTAGE FAMILY AWARD

 

Over the past decade or so, I’ve made it my habit to review my images a few times a year for the purpose of submitting my favorites to various photography competitions.  I’ve had some success (you can read about it and see some successful images HERE – I don’t mean to be braggy but YES, this is where I keep the feathers in my cap ;)).

Recently, I’ve been looking for a competition that really celebrates my favorite, favorite type of image.  This was a bit trickier that you might think.  As you may know, I’m not a “documentary” photographer by the strict definition of that term, but my favorite images from each of my family sessions does tend not be staged or psed … and they tend to have that documentary flair.  (I talk about how that happens HERE).

Enter “This is Reportage: Family.“

This is Reportage: Family describes itself as a site/community that features and celebrates “the very best of documentary family photography. Our members all pride themselves on capturing you and your family totally naturally (though most are happy to do some ‘look at the camera’ group shots as well), and our awards are widely recognised as some of the toughest to win in the industry.”

Scrolling through the past collections hooked me.  The photographers who have won these awards in the past exhibit a magical eye for the funniest, realest, most tender moments and the skill to compose them artfully and beautifully.  I told myself that even if I came out empty of recognition, involvement in this community could only help sharpen my eye and keep me grounded in what I consider the best parts of every session.

Well.

You know where this ends, right? (Would I be spending a Monday morning writing a blog post about this if I didn’t have a little something to brag about tell you about?  

Out of almost 5,300 images submitted, an image of mine received one of the just 38 Reportage Family Awards. You’ll be familiar with it if you spend any time on my site, as it has graced the header on the home page for many years.  

I’m thrilled, of course, to have  received recognition among so many AMAZING documentary style photographers (seriously – go browse through them HERE) and super excited to continue to challenge myself within this genre.

Thanks for listening to my humble-brag.  😉

~Jaye