Then & Now: A Tiny Story Project

For so long, everything had been new.

Newlyweds. New to parenting a baby girl. New town. New home. New to parenting a baby boy.

At some point, new turned into routine. We watched the same scenes happen over… and over… in time.

My awareness for this became a bit of a game as a documentary photographer—I was more aware of the photographs I’d already made.

It started with the tiny story of getting the mail. In the fall of 2015, the kids, my camera and I went for a late afternoon walk almost daily. They were pulled behind me in their red, Radio Flyer wagon. We made many stops to pick up rocks. We threw the rocks into the creek. And, as we walked home, we stopped to get the mail. 

One day, that déjà vu feeling washed over me as my daughter stretched and reached to open the mailbox. I was aware of how often I’d watched this scene unfold before and I photographed it… again… with previous scenes on my mind. 

Here’s the thing you need to know:

You could easily take all your old photos and then go reproduce them. You’ve probably seen Then & Now projects like this before. You know the one of a pregnant woman in a certain scene and then in that scene again later with baby in her arms? 

This is different. 

This is documentary. 

This is noticing and responding—no planning, plotting or orchestration. It’s about your level of awareness.

Noticing all of these scenes in my mind while fully experiencing the present moment is absolute consciousness—completely enlivening.

Making the next photograph is simply a bonus.

The feeling of being awake for my life has been everything… more than the magic of the photographs themselves. 

There was a time when my daughter couldn’t reach the mailbox. Then, she grew and grew. We added a baby brother to the mix. Today, he can reach the mailbox… which has caused many a “I’m gonna get the mail!” arguments. 

It was only weeks later when I photographed my son stretching and reaching to open the mailbox and there was something else I noticed in his photograph: the background has changed. What was once a wooded chunk of property has been flatted into farmland. 

This little game of noticing and recording new, but familiar moments has been cathartic.

We get to take notice of what’s changed and evolved, and also what’s stayed the same, withstood time, and the tiny stories to remain beautifully reliable for the future.

These are a few of my favorites… 

The Bath Scene:

2012

2014

2017

2019

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Buckling up:

2014

2016

2017

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Like sister, like brother:

2012

2014

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Moving between his room and is big sister’s room:

2014

2017

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In the car with “Lovey”:

2014

2018

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Mailbox adventures:

2013

2014

2014

2014

2015

2015

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“Mommy, I want you.”:

2015

2017

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My view from riding shotgun:

2015

2018

Tools:

2019 | Manual Tools

2020 | Power Tools

I’m positive, if I really looked through my photographs, I’ve got dozens more. Coming home to my parent’s house. Dave’s dad waving goodbye from their front porch. Arriving to the family cabin. Our favorite pizza place that turned into a store for glasses. These stories are all around us.

The point is not in making pictures. It’s in how awake you’re living to notice these tiny stories to begin with.

HOMEWORK: 

Take time today to notice your stories. 

Notice the changes or the similarities of the tiny stories you’ve experienced in the past—whether you have pictures or not.

Be open to receiving opportunity to warmly notice these moments again in the future. How you respond—in pictures or in savoring—is up to you. 

Above all: Look at ALL the stories in your life, not only your children. Look at your partner, your parents, grandparents, friendships, your neighborhood and community, your career—all of it.

Share this story on Instagram and tag me @dangerouslygoodstories 🙂 

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