Phogotraphy

It’s 8AM in the morning, you’ve been up two hours already rushing around and preparing for the big day. “Where’s the battery for the camera” you bellow down the hallway to your better half, for it’s time to take one of the most important photographs you’re ever going to make as a human being. It’s your child’s first day at school.

The world is very different to how it was when I was a child. I think you could probably attribute the majority of the change to the digital tide and advent of social media. They naturally go hand in hand together, with sites like Facebook providing a home for cellphone snaps, and digital files creating content for us all to gander at on the tube. This collective force majeure has ultimately resulted in a faster paced, more open world where we can now collectively share an experience such as our children’s first day at school.

So when I see a post on social media complaining about the influx of ‘kids stood in front of the fridge’ photographs I am truly saddened. Not only does this push across an obnoxious persona, it also intimidates our parent friends into not doing the same. Happy Mums and Dads are now either making apologies for posting pictures or not doing so at all.

“I’m sorry, I know you’re all sick of first day of school pics, but I’m so proud of my little superstar”

Take a moment to consider why we even visit Facebook. Is it to harvest overshared memes, read awful news stories, read the comment section on a BBC News post or is it to share and enjoy the memories created by the friends and family we’ve connected with? It’s treasured times like the birth of a child, a marriage, a party or any type of achievement that we all enjoy seeing and sharing.

Don’t be ashamed, don’t be intimidated, don’t listen to the haters. You have every right to get out that camera for this special occasion and create a memory not only for you, but for your child to look back on. Then share it with your friends and family, because take it from me, they want to see it and will take as much joy from seeing a proud parent’s snapshot as the next.

Finally, extra props should be awarded to those who catch on film any emotionally strong father seeing off their little one through the school gates holding back the floods of tears. I’ve seen many a grown man crumble to pieces as the children they’ve nurtured up to this point start their new journeys in life.

Have a great day at school, kids.