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The Deasy family holds a very special place in my heart.
When Jill got in touch with me a few months back telling me their story, I immediately felt drawn to them. The Deasy's experienced a great tragedy in their lives on February 17th 2007 when they lost their seven year old son, Luke, to a strep infection. It was sudden and unexpected and turned their world on its side. In the words of Jill, "Everything since then is directly influenced by his death, including this photo shoot. I feel that we are living a life that is dangerous, unpredictable, ephemeral, gritty and beautiful. I feel that after three years, our family is on the verge of something powerful. I have learned that we are strong, courageous, incredibly loving, and willing to grow despite the great pain that comes from that growth. I hope this photo session with you will capture both the togetherness and separateness. I hope it captures the physical dynamics of the four of us as well as the spiritual dynamics of the five of us. We are simultaneously broken and yet we are whole. In short, we are a family of glaring contradictions."
When I think about this beautiful family my heart feels overtaken on so many levels. I feel connected & drawn to them because I too, know what it is to have a family member taken too soon. I feel joy because these are the overcom'ers of the world. These are the rare gems of the world that pereservere and somehow turn tragedy into something beautiful. The Deasy's are a family full of hope. They are people who love until it hurts because they know there is no other way to live.
Luke is a very real part of the Deasy family and since I never had the honor of meeting him, I pulled Daddy Matt, Momma Jill, Tommy and Ray away individually and asked them to all write in chalk one word that described their son & their brother. It was an extremely moving experience for me and the family. As the tears rolled down my cheeks, I was so happy my camera was there to guard my face. It was almost as if Luke was right there with all of us throughout the entirety of this shoot. Tommy's word to describe his brother was "Baseball" because Luke was "really good at baseball and taught him how to play" (in the words of Tommy). Ray's word was "snakes" because his brother Luke, really liked snakes and was never scared of them. Jill's words for her son were "untamed" and "inspiration." Daddy Matt's word was "old soul."
Jill and Matt just wanted honest photos of their family, nothing posed, nothing fake. What an honor it is to capture this family for all of the beautiful brokeness and beautiful hopefulness that they posses. They are a true inspiration to me and so many others. Thank you Deasy family for blessing me with this opportunity to capture your family exactly as it is.
*If you want to see a few more from my time with this lovely family you can check out their slideshow here: Deasy Family Slideshow
*The styling/hair and make up were all orchestrated by my wonderful friend Tiffany Lowry
*The music on the slideshow is by my beautiful & dear friend, Miss Amy Seeley
Thoughts
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This session moved me to tears. Their bravery and strength is so inspiring. I don't know how a family moves on after such an unimaginable loss- let alone lets someone in to be with them like they did you. Simply beautiful.
These are amazing and such fun family photos. Their love for each other really shines through the images.
Spectacular. Love the interaction
WOW! The best I have ever seen. Thanks.
wow. wow. wow. this is a beautiful series. very raw, authentic and compelling. well done my friends!
One of your best shoots ever. So raw and so natural.
Thanks for sharing.
Awesome! I want milk and chocolate cake now :)
I cried just during the story. Oh my goodness. The images are...well, lovely. One of the words I use to describe your work quite often.
Jasmine Star mentioned you as someone whose work she looks at, and I see why. I’m so happy I found you online. This photoshoot is a beautiful offering of love and healing and I look forward with pleasure to browsing your other work.
that story brought tears to my eyes. you can just feel the love, strength and raw emotion in these pictures - what a beautiful session.
Absolutely incredible!!! I love this and their story, beautiful work.
love the touching story behind this session. your photography has inspired me to pick up a camera and learn some of the basics. this post particularly speaks to me since I will be photographing a family session with my sis and her family tomorrow.
OMG I am so moved. I don't know what to say. These are beyond treasures for this family. Beyond Art. Beyond Amazing. XO
Hi Sarah,
I just started following your blog and love your work. This post was especially moving and powerful and you did such a great job capturing this family. My heart goes out to them.
Can't wait to follow your blog!!!
All Best,
Charlotte
These photos are so inspiring.
Beautiful.
I just left a comment but I am thinking that it didn't actually go through. Seems I don't have the best of luck with leaving comments on your blog :( So I'll try this one just to see if it goes through. If you get this and didn't get the first one - just know that my first comment was a great one ;)
So lovely and moving. Your style is unlike no other because you see people - you actually see them and that's refreshing and that's what I look up to. We all just want to be seen, heard, and known and you excel. I love those clients that are bold enough to do an all candid photo shoot. This family is beautiful - gives me hope that my husband and I can love wildly and live simply and beautifully with our baby that is coming in the Spring. :o)
amazing! How awesome of an inspiration are they! It is absolutely breath taking when people live like this.... knowing they can move on and remember someone so important to them even when they are not there. These pics are awesome... i love sports!
That last one says it all!!!sublime!
Sarah, these are amazing. What family pictures are meant to be!
What an amazing family. You told their story so beautifully in words and pictures. x
so beautiful...
I don't even know this family and I got tears looking at their photos. You have given them such a gift, I love that you captured them in their own home..so incredibly personal.
wow sarah..... so powerful. you did capture exactly what they wanted. you can feel luke in the photos. i got chills looking at these. what an amazing family...
for real. your family sessions. they are just ridiculous. i usually close out of someone's blog as soon as i get to a family session. i'm not a jerk, i just plain don't like family sessions. but yours ... good lord, what to even say? remarkable. absolutely remarkable!
doesn't get better.
Tears. Tears. Tears. Sarah and Chris, these are absolutely breathtaking. You have given this family such a gift. What an amazing story...
These are so delicious and man does that cake look good! I love the opening shot, and love all the shots of the mom hugs. Also love the last one so much. These will be cherished images for decades. Way to see and then capture the love that this family has!
This session above any other family session just stirred something inside me. Your work with Chris is beautiful Sarah and I'm sure the Deasy family will cherish these images for years and years to come.
Absolutely gorgeous, real, and moving. Your work is always such an inspiration and spurs me to pay closer attention to details and see locations from a different angle in my own photography.
I love this session. It's breathtaking.
Absolutely gorgeous, real, and moving. Your work is always such an inspiration and spurs me to pay closer attention to details and see locations from a different angle in my own photography.
I love this session. It's breathtaking.
Sarah...I will also give the first word that I would use to describe this shoot...INSPIRATION. This is such a beautiful and I joyfully (and sorrowfully) shed tears this morning as I connected with the family. Everytime a hugging picture would come on in the slideshow, I got goosebumps. They seem to hold on just a little bit tighter in their loving embraces. What a powerful perspective I will carry with me today. Thank you for this. Kathy
I strive to have this kind of emotion in my pictures. You have inspired me to seek the truth, love the subjects, and tell their story.
Sarah this is breath taking and simply amazing. Wow.
This is fantastic, beautiful, whimsical, and real. I cried all the way through this post.
Incredible.
wow, cry much... this epitomizes the power photography has as an addition to a heartbreaking and inspiring story! much love and light to this family! beautiful and touching captures...
An absolute gift for this family and for all of us who get to view this touching work of art.
You have such a gift, and I'm always inspired after visiting your blog. Beautiful.
An absolute gift for this family and for all of us who get to view this touching work of art.
Beautiful images and inspiring story!
Unbelievably moving. And insanely gorgeous photos, Sarah. You captured this family so honestly, creatively and just beautifully. Hugs to this family and all the families that suffer this kind of pain.
oh my word. amazingly inspirational. beyond evocative... it really goes to show that this work is so much more than just creating a photo to put in a frame.
Simply beautiful!
A beautiful shoot. Sarah, you alway manage to capture the essence of your subjects perfectly. Families are truly lucky to find you. Please continue shooting as you do with love and honestly. It's a joy and an experience to view your work.
beautiful.
Sarah, these are absolutely breathtaking. You went beyond and completely captured this family's essence. A comment can't describe work this good.
Amazing job. Proud of ya!
Gosh everytime you post something I feel the emotion and am inspired!!