Surrey family photographer – The power of positive images

Surrey family photography – {The power of positive images and being in the newspaper}

A few weeks ago I was delighted to discover my charity project ‘Kids and their Bikes’ was featured in the Farnham Herald. You can view the digital version of the article here.

My two boys and I are pictured (by my husband) at the bottom of the article. I love how confident and at ease the two of them are on their bikes. I’m clutching my camera and feeling pretty shy and a bit awkward about having my picture taken. But, nevertheless, I am pleased we have this picture of us together. We are a great little team!

As you can imagine this is a fantastic piece of publicity for my bike project and for the Farnham Bike Ride Charity. Articles like this mean more people across Farnham and Surrey are ‘Googling’ my website and the Charity’s website. So overall I am pretty much over the moon to find that the Farnham Herald printed my bike project story.

But, as a Mum, it was even more exciting for me to see the reaction of my two boys (aged 5 and 7), when I showed them the article. Being pictured in a newspaper was a big deal!

They were quietly impressed to see themselves in the paper and they enjoyed studying the article and their picture. They expressed how ‘cool’ they looked on their bikes, how much fun they had, how they love their bikes, how happy they were to be helping their mum and which kids at school said they saw them in the newspaper!

We all have a mental picture of ourselves and as parents we help to shape how positive our children feel about themselves. As a photographer and as a mum I like to think that we can use photography to enhance our children’s outlook and positive sense of self.

I relished the moment my boys saw themselves printed in a newspaper and to see themselves portrayed doing something they were good at, something they enjoyed and noticing for themselves how confident they looked on their bikes.

All of us, including children, see ourselves in a certain way. For children, this idea or vision of them selves includes who they are, what they can do and how they think others see them. We can also help shape the view others have of themselves.

There is a piece of research conducted by Professor Geoff Beattie (University of Manchester) and commissioned by the company Venture New Generation Portraits which, among other things, explored the relationship between families who display portraits and confidence in children.

Professor Beattie Said: ‘When children grow up surrounded by photographs, it gives them a richer understanding of where they come from, which helps with confidence.’

For my boys, to have a part of their every day world mirrored back at them in their newspaper image was a truly positive and affirming experience for them. The boys out on their bikes, with mum bringing her camera along for the ride, is a common and fond experience for them. They know their Mum is working hard to raise money for a great local charity. They also know that enjoying the outdoors and being out on their bikes makes them feel good and it’s a very important part of our family life.

 

Pictures like this remind us of positive and good times that we have as a family, rooting us in a sense of who we are, what we like to do and (most importantly) how much we love each other as a family.

Viewing external images of ourselves should not be the only way we teach our children to feel good about them selves nor should it be the only way to affirm our sense of self. But, it is one of many factors that is known to have a positive affect on our children’s self esteem.

So as a photographer and a mum I will always endevour to have quality crafted and heartwarming images of my family, sharing in everything we love, on display in our home (and hopefully a few more articles in the local papers to promote my charity project ‘Kids and their Bikes’. ; )  )

If you have a child who loves their bike and loves to cycle. It can be a trike, toddler bike, scooter, training wheeled bike, balance bike or BMX bike etc. Whatever the bike and however old your child is.  If they love it and it makes them feel good about themselves then sign up here  and have their portrait taken for my project ‘Kids and their Bikes’.

You can read the full Daily Mail article on Professor Geoff Beattie’s article  here.

You can read more about my Bike Project here.

You can find the Farnham Bike Charity here.