Postcards capture beauty of family life

JULIA WADE

Known for her skill in capturing intimate human moments and emotions, local lifestyle family photographer Josie Gritten is currently showcasing a collection of her stunning images via an online exhibit entitled ‘Postcards from New Zealand’.

Running from July 1 and presented by the Auckland Festival of Photography (AFP), the YouTube ‘Postcards’ channel offers a pathway for New Zealand-based photographers to participate remotely from all around the country and includes artists work, talks and webinars.

In her introductory video, made with the help from Mangawhai’s Elevated Media NZ owner/operator Andy Bruce, Gritten talks about her enjoyment in being able to show families the beauty of their everyday lives.

“I work with families to create long lasting memories of the joy, the passion, the chaos, the arguments, the kids all bundling on top of each other, closeups of that beautiful bit of your babies back that you can’t help nibbling every time you see it, or the big massive squeezing hugs where everyone’s just piling up on Mum because they just love her so much… those are my passions and joys, they are the photographs I just love to create.”

The idea to capture the magic of people’s daily reality was inspired by a moment in Gritten’s own life when she was busy juggling multiple tasks simultaneously with her five children.

“I was doing flute lessons with my 14-year-old and helping my nine-year-old with her maths, and brushing someone’s hair as well as helping somebody else write a song while talking about the logistics of who was picking up who from football, all while cooking a meal, and I thought ‘where is someone to document this, somebody to notice what I’m doing so in 20 years’ time, I can look back and say, this is what I did, this is how awesome I was in these normal everyday moments… and so I offer those to families.”

Feedback has been ‘amazing’ Gritten says, with clients gaining an insight and different perspective into their lives.

“I spent 13 hours on a live shoot with a mother of four, the youngest being only five weeks. It was a busy day, she did a lot of organising and driving and when I showed her the photographs, she said ‘I didn’t realise how much joy was in my day, how much I laughed and smiled’. For me it was just so beautiful, being able to share that with her and to show her how awesome she was in her day-to-day life,” Gritten says. “As a Mum, having someone witness your daily life is invaluable, and having somebody honour that in a documentary style through beautiful photographs brings such a clarity and enjoyment and appreciation to the hard work of being a parent.

“A big thank you to Andy Bruce from Elevated Media NZ. It was great to work with him, he totally put me at ease, was funny and really knows his stuff and I'm so very excited and pleased with the video.”

n To view online Google YouTube/Postcards From New Zealand/Josie Gritten

PHOTOS/JOSIE GRITTEN