We all grow up. We lead our own separate lives and create our own families. But one thing remains the same; we will always feel connected to our family roots at our core. The three young men in this extended family shoot are brothers who grew up together but are each living in a different country now, some with their own little families. The wife of the oldest brother arranged quite the event for his birthday; she had the brothers, along with their parents, surprise-visit him here in Seattle. When families (three generations!) come together like this I know it is a momentous occasion; an event to be documented, so I was happy to be there to do so. They were a loving bunch with lots of awesome energy from the young boys (especially with fun uncles around), which always makes it pleasurable to photograph!
I believe a great desire as a parent of siblings is to have your children get along, to love one another and to always find one another and connect. I feel the ultimate goal of it all is to know that your children will always guard each other, no questions asked. I believe the parents of these brothers have this for their three not-so-little-anymore boys; they’re all grown up and they are there for each other when they can and, more importantly, when it counts. As I edited this session I couldn’t help but recall my all-time favorite quote as I photographed this family, so I’ll end with it here:
“Like branches on a tree, we all grow in different directions, but our roots remain as one”.
