There’s a memory I have of me sitting on the dining room floor sifting through shoeboxes full of old photographs. I was ten years old. Ten years old and holding my parents’ past in my two small hands.
I remember not understanding the mystery in those grainy pictures— unable to imagine my parents having a life before me. What mattered to them? What made them grin? What were they like before adulthood swept in?
.jpg "Anne Miller-Hartford-Connecticut-Family-Photographer")
This was the evidence that my parents lived remarkable yet simple lives before me. It was when photography started to take on a new definition—an art that allows history to stand still for a little while. An art that creates room for a legacy to unfold.
A self-taught natural light photographer, I specialize in family portrait photography. I lead with my heart and step into relationships before I ever try to document them in their essence. I want to capture roots. I want children to be able to trace back because of this experience. I want to be able to document the risks you took, the battles you braved, the traditions you forged, and the family you built together through it all.
Family, to me, means everyone— the people you walked this road with, the ones you waited for, the ones you’re still hoping will show up soon. A family might begin with two but each year is a milestone and a stitch in history that builds upon itself through sacrifice, love, hardship, grace and celebration.
In a life that is busy and hard, I think we need a way to come back to one another sometimes. Photographs are the proof we were here. We picked each other, day after day. We never gave up. But above all else, we were simply and definitely here.