The floor is lava…

The floor is lava in many of the homes where I photograph families. Luckily, I always remember to bring my lava boots because the floor in my own home is often lava.

The games we play as kids stick with us throughout life. They become the codes within our generation in which we build identity. They become the stories within families that siblings bond over.

While I don’t remember playing the floor is lava, we played a game called spider often. We would set up a blanket in the middle of the floor, and one person would be on that blanket as the spider. The spider had to try to catch the others as they moved around the room, but they couldn’t get off the blanket. The first person who was caught became the next spider. The game never got old. I don’t have any pictures of us playing the game, but I remember the texture of the soft blue blanket we used. I remember the brown and tan striped couch we jumped from to run to safety on the orange chair. I remember the game in the context of my childhood home.

Being able to capture the games you play is one of the many reasons I love photographing your family in your home. At home, your kids can be in pajamas and then become batman and still be able to decide to become a dinosaur. They can show off their trophy collection and incorporate all their tricks into play. They can jump from pillow to pillow when the floor is lava or jump on the bed and avoid the pillows that come flying at their face. Anything can happen, and so many things do happen.

I want to give you photographs that your kids will be able to use as portals back to their childhood. To remember the games they played with you. To see the parts of their identity that were already so clearly evident. To know without a doubt how much they are loved.

What games did you play as a child? Do you have any photographs of those games? What images come up in the memories?

Get in touch so I can make photos of your family in your home for your kids to discover in the future.