Carrie

Shot in the garden with minimal natural light after a therapy session, these little photos, part of a set of 200 images are just the way I know best to say, Thank you Carrie.

Carrie has been Reuben's Physical Therapist for the last 30 months, starting work with him at home when he was a wee, fragile little baby, fresh out of 6 months in intensive care.

Carrie has guided us through all the milestones, from raising his head in prone position for the first time at 9 months, sitting unassisted, rolling over, crawling, standing, walking and jumping. So much of that early therapy happened on the play mat gym, the same one I'm taking snaps of today to sell along with many other baby toys. I find it so hard to part with these things, so sentimental am I, but I hope they'll find a nice happy home.

It's hard to describe the stages Reuben has gone through, the huge challenges he's undertaken in order to do physical activities, both fine and gross motor, which, for typical children come so very naturally. The impact of that exactly has been intensified by watching Callum grow and race through the milestones like he's eager to be first in the race. I praise Reuben for his immense determination and patience during these therapy sessions, which, at first, were interrupted every few minutes to suction his trach or give him a moment to catch his breathe, again and again, again and again. And I praise Carrie for that same level of patience and expertise and her true fondness of my boys.

I'll do some work on these and the others but I always like to get something back to friends or clients shortly after.

I do so love in photographic portraiture how you learn so much about someone you thought you knew so well, by virtue of studying their face so intimately behind the lens. Like Carrie's eyes: I didn't know their greenness til now. Working together, you learn the best angles, the best feature to draw out, the personality traits you wish to capture.

(If you have a better favourite please let me know. It helps me to better select pics creatively and commercially, thanks.)