The Family Table

The Family Table

December 24, 2020

Years ago, usually during the holidays, I started taking a few photos of my family around the table.  I continued to take them here and there over the years, most especially at my parent’s house.  I would usually sit in the same seat that I have since I was a kid with everyone else usually in their same seats, as I am sure many families get into the ritual of doing.  When I later looked back at some of those photos, they made for some pretty funny diptychs of my family members in the exact same scenes over several years.  

As time moved on, the unintentional accumulation of these dinner table photos became kind of a small documentation of my family.  We have had significant others add seats to the table, we have had babies add high-chairs to the table and there are family members that we have lost, who we sadly miss being at the table.  I have also had another family welcome me to their table. Which means they also now have to tolerate me photographing them.  

I wish I had been making this series intentionally; I would have had so many more photographs.  Specifically, I wish I had much more of my Dad’s side of the family, of whom I have plenty of photographs but few at the dinner table, making them very much underrepresented in the initial series.  But they also might actually be thankful for this!  

I moved out of my home state of New Jersey close to a decade ago now, causing me to unfortunately miss many family dinners back home.  But as long as I am able to photograph, this series will continue.  I hope I am lucky enough to see what this collection will look like in another fifty years.  I am grateful to have these photos and all of my family in my life.