Kids Were Here - June

"When I first began this project, I thought it would be fun to document the every day messes my children make. As the weeks have passed, this project has really become so much more than that.  It's not really about messes at all, but about the stories they tell. It's about traces of childhood I see throughout my home on a daily basis. It's about the love we share together. It's about living and being...creating, making, learning and trying. This project leaves me a beautiful story each month of the reminders that Kids are here now...and the time, well, its all too fleeting, isn't it? We all need to embrace these moments and just live them too; because they really are the best moments of life."

    -Ginger Unzueta

  I can't believe it's already been 3 months since our Kids Were Here project started.  I was really struggling with how to document this project as something unique for this month compared to the last two months.  I mean, a 2 year old pretty much leaves the same predictable messes every day and I was having a really hard time finding creative ways to document them.  I also couldn't help but compare my photographs to the others in the group - to the older kids with their funny written messages or random toys placed in odd places.  But then reading Ginger's quote again - I realized that these photos do not necessarily have to be photos of messes or show the quirks of childhood - they only have to represent my child as he is right now.  To me these are not messes at all - these are some of the traces of him right now, messy or not.  They are the physical proof that he is here, in my life, and that my home and my heart will never be the same again.  I don't think there is anything really unique about any of my photos this month, but I have a story/memory/feeling to go with each one and that is what this is about.

I only wish I could have realized this sooner in the month, that Ginger's words above sunk in when I first read them - but I am feeling inspired and really ready to approach this project with nothing but my heart from now on.  Photography is funny that way - as i continue to participate in these projects and connect with others who inspire me, I really feel myself growing not only as a photographer but as a person.

To see the collection of photos from the entire group please visit the Kids Were Here site!  And don't forget to keep sharing your photos to our Facebook wall!