“Children are one third of our population and all of our future.”

This is an outtake from a recent portrait shoot I did. It likely will be of no interest to the client, but is probably my favorite of everything I shot that day. I shot it like this one for myself — it’d make a good book cover I think.

Edit: A couple of people expressed that they found this shot disturbing on Facebook, well, for the inquiring minds:

My intent behind this shot is to get those that have kids to stop and think about how much time they’re spending with them. The dark and lonely feeling it has was intentional on my part.It’s about not letting your kids grow up and missing it because you’re too wrapped up in your own world with work, or whatever else you may spend too much time doing. The doll and the older girl holding it is saying something. Think about it.

None of this has ANYTHING to do with with this particular child or her parents. I had visualized a shot very similar to this previously and never had shot it. I saw the opportunity to get it that day, so I did. My work does have a dark side to it sometimes — and that’s because life itself has a dark side. We live in a broken world that’s not always fun and games. Anytime you see something like this that disturbs you, ask yourself WHY it disturbs you. There likely is something to be learned from that realization or awareness of yourself.