Photography as a connection

I've always loved taking photos. When my children were born, photography took on a new meaning for me.

It became a tool—a way to record my children's growth, to communicate my feelings, and to bring us closer together.

I take photos all the time. Photography is an essential part of my life as a parent, and the camera is a constant presence in our daily lives. For this series, I photographed in the early days of spring.

The sunny and cloudy days we spent on the beach, the breathtaking views we saw together, the warm drink we shared on a cold morning, the sunset we stared at in silence—I want all of these moments to remain as works of art. I take photos because I want to capture the beauty of every day we spend together, and because I want to tell my children that I'm proud of them, that they are beautiful, and that they have the power to lead their own lives.

For this reason, the optical qualities of a lens are very important to me—usually I choose to shoot with large aperture prime lenses. But in everyday life, the fixed focal length of a prime lens sometimes becomes an obstacle that forces me to miss certain moments.

The Sigma 17-40mm F1.8 DC | Art offers a 35mm equivalent focal length of 27.2mm to 64mm on APS-C cameras with the Canon RF Mount. It covers everything from the wide-angle, which I have dearly missed in my photography, to the standard range, enabling me to capture each shot as I feel it.

It allows me to take the photos I want without compromise, even in low light. And yet, its large F1.8 aperture and the beautiful way it renders images remind me of my prime lenses.

What I appreciate most, however, is that it allows me to better express the message I want to convey to my children: You are the center of your own life.

My children are a little older now, but there are still so many things I want to capture about them—the way they act in front of the camera when they want to be photographed, or the traces of their childhood selves that still show up in certain gestures or the way they speak. Some of these moments are difficult to capture in photographs alone.

But even when zooming and focusing while shooting video, the Sigma 17-40mm F1.8 DC | Art remains stable and well-balanced thanks to its internal zoom mechanism. I also did not notice any focus breathing, which made it second nature to me to frame and capture things exactly as I wanted.

For me, photography is a form of conversation and a way to connect with my children.

I photograph moments that I find beautiful, things that I want to preserve, or things that I feel are characteristic of my children. I can share my feelings with them without using words, and we can talk about what it means to take photos and what it means for something to be photographed.

What they think about the photos is, of course, up to them. Rather than the result, it is the process that is important to me: the dialogue and imagination involved in the act of photography.

I have found that the short minimum focusing distance of the lens allows me to get very close and explore an intimacy that is perhaps unique to the relationship between parent and child. Embracing that closeness is yet another form of dialogue.

I am already looking forward to the things I will capture with this lens in the future.

The beauty of everyday life, the moments I want to preserve, the things I want to pass on to my children—I will continue to capture them with care.