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Mother and Daughter Collaborate on Painterly Photographs that Capture the Beauty of Childhood
Minnesota-based photographer Caroline Jensen lives across two hundred acres of wide-open prairie on which she and her family roam freely amidst the wild flowers and thickets of verdant grass. She and her daughter, now ten, have been collaborating since the child was four years old, building together an evolving diary of childhood play and discovery.
Most of Jensen’s portraits of her daughter are candid, pulling moments of eternity from the routines of daily life. For the girl, says Jensen, photography “is as much a part of life as brushing her teeth,” and she’s grown over the years in her understanding of the craft, often serving as a critical eye during editing sessions. The photo shoots occur only with the child’s permission, and the photographer admits that the process has bound them closely together. As in any mother-daughter relationship, Jensen makes sure to maintain boundaries, but she cherishes the candid, authentic moments her child has allowed her to share.
With the passage of time, the pair has also grown to recognize the timelessness of the photograph. Jensen suggests that perhaps because she does not have very many snapshots to remember her own mother, she hopes to build an endless library of images to which her daughter can return later in life. “My daughter understands that we are making memories so that we have images to cherish in the future,” she explains. She is influenced in part by the Dutch Master painters, drawn to the enduring contrasts of darkness and light. In her eyes, a photograph isn’t completed until it has been printed, held in her hands, and shared with the family.
All photos featured in this post can be found on Offset, a new curated collection of high-end commercial and editorial photography and illustration from award-winning artists around the world. Offset is a category partner on Feature Shoot.