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Next of Kin

31 images Created 8 Mar 2010

As a sequel to the personal project called First Candle (Part 1), is Next of Kin, the story of the early years between Ella and her new brother Sam.

The first picture is of Ella's first birthday, where her story paused 18-months earlier.

Growing up in a parallel universe, the new-born and his his elder sibling, explore each others worlds while remaining both different genders and therefore separate personalities.

Ella's first year is described at: http://bit.ly/apYOA0

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  • "One candle." A family are gathered to celebrate the first birthday of a young child, the back garden of her parent's south London home. The birthday girl reaches out to touch the single lit candle on a chocolate log cake while her grandmother and mother both show her how to blow and extinguish the flame instead. Friends and relatives are sat around the garden on a perfect late-summer afternoon, drinking and laughing on this joyous occasion, a milestone in the first year of any young life. This is from a documentary series of pictures about the first year of the photographer's first child Ella. Accompanied by personal reflections and references from various nursery rhymes, this work describes his wife Lynda's journey from expectant to actual motherhood and for Ella - from new-born to one year-old.
    corbis_ella24-20-04-1995.jpg
  • A newborn baby boy is carried away from his mother immediately after she has given birth to the child in the delivery ward at Kings College Hospital, Camberwell, London. Handling the crying and twisting infant with only one hand, the lady health professional takes it to a warm towel and then to some weighing scales where the baby is checked and cleaned then returned to the mum who is still on the birthing bed. From a personal documentary project entitled "Next of Kin" about the photographer's two children's early years spent in parallel universes.
    ella+sam01-31-03_1998.jpg
  • A two and half year-old girl meets her sleeping baby brother for the first time on his actual birthday. In the maternity ward at Kings College Hospital, Camberwell, London, the child reaches out with the maternal instincts of her gender to touch the fragile infant who is wrapped up in an NHS blanket in a cot that was wheeled directly from the birthing room a few hours beforehand. The baby boy is oblivious to his sister's affection and attention but he is healthy and already thriving before waking up for his first feeds. From a personal documentary project entitled "Next of Kin" about the photographer's two children's early years spent in parallel universes.
    ella+sam02-31-03_1998.jpg
  • A two and half year-old girl has a mid-afternoon sleep on the sofa of her parents' home in South London. On the floor is her young baby brother who is also enjoying some rest in his carrying basket. Both are unconscious but getting welcome shut-eye from their activities. Next to the girl is a book with the title 'Babies' Names' because her mum and dad have six weeks, under British law, in which to register a baby's birth and give it a name. From a personal documentary project entitled "Next of Kin" about the photographer's two children's early years spent in parallel universes. Model released.
    ella+sam03-20-04_1998.jpg
  • A two and half year-old girl watches her mother bath her baby brother in the bathroom of her South London home. She looks down at the correct technique that her mum uses by supporting his head with a hand, ensuring the child does not slip further into the warm bath water, the way that many babies drown in even shallow water. Such maternal instincts is how even young children learn to mother and care for their own children in later life, From a personal documentary project entitled "Next of Kin" about the photographer's two children's early years spent in parallel universes. Model released.
    ella+sam04-30-04_1998.jpg
  • A two and half year-old girl has a mid-afternoon sleep on the sofa of her parents' home in South London. On the floor is her young baby brother who is also enjoying some rest in his carrying basket. Both are unconscious but getting welcome shut-eye from the morning's activities. Both children face each other during deep sleep and we see the different sizes of their small hands. From a personal documentary project entitled "Next of Kin" about the photographer's two children's early years spent in parallel universes. Model released.
    ella+sam05-30-04_1998.jpg
  • A two and half year-old girl shows affection to her baby brother in the living room of her South London home. Reaching out to show her love, the big sister tickles the boy under his chin although he looks more intrigued than amused at the attention that this person is showing him. He is a few weeks old and lies in a baby bouncer chair on the floor. from a personal documentary project entitled "Next of Kin" about the photographer's two children's early years spent in parallel universes. Model released.
    ella+sam06-16-06_1998.jpg
  • A two and half year-old girl sits next to her three-month old baby brother, eating lunch during a day out with their mother who is seen holding on tight to the boy. With their hands up to each other's mouths, the girl takes a bite of a slice of bread sandwich. She is clearly relishing her food and has a large appetite while the boy seems to enjoy sucking on his fingers before the age where he can eat solids. From a personal documentary project entitled "Next of Kin" about the photographer's two children's early years spent in parallel universes. Model released.
    ella+sam07-12-07_1998.jpg
  • A two and half year-old girl looks over her shoulder to eye her young baby brother suspiciously while he plays on the floor with a play mobile toy. It is bright from window light that shines down on the floor of their South London home where the two siblings play. Her brother is learning to lie on his front, using developing muscles in his neck and back to hold his head up towards a dangling toy. His sister enjoys having her own space and considers her innocent brother to be a little too close for her own comfort. From a personal documentary project entitled "Next of Kin" about the photographer's two children's early years spent in parallel universes. Model released.
    ella+sam08-21-07_1998.jpg
  • A three and half year-old girl takes a mid-afternoon nap on the sofa in her South London home. While she sleeps her one year-old brother has taken the opportunity to take a leg from her doll and bite it with his new teeth. He sits on the rug and watches her expecting her to awake at any moment. From a personal documentary project entitled "Next of Kin" about the photographer's two children's early years spent in parallel universes. Model released.
    ella+sam09-05-03_1999.jpg
  • A three year-old girl throws her head back with joy while playing with her young one-year-old brother in the back garden of their South London home. We look down on the small girl who throws her head back with delight and the freedom of an early summer afternoon at home. Little brother laughs with pleasure too, sitting on a toy tractor. The picture is slanted to lend a sense of drama. From a personal documentary project entitled "Next of Kin" about the photographer's two children's early years spent in parallel universes. Model released.
    ella+sam10-20-05_1999.jpg
  • While her brother apparently sinks beneath the surface of plastic balls, a three year-old girl scrabbles up a small slide in the Croydon branch of IKEAS's crèche facility, allowing parent shoppers to browse the store while their children frolic in the ball pond. Designed to encourage adventure and stimulate developing senses, the kids play on their own in this safe environment. From a personal documentary project entitled "Next of Kin" about the photographer's two children's early years spent in parallel universes. Model released.
    ella+sam11-25-05_1999.jpg
  • A young girl of nearly four plays on garden furniture with her younger brother in the back garden of their South London house. The boy is blonde-haired with a healthy tummy storing energy for his games and boyhood fantasies while his sister lies on the soft cushion of the chair during this warm summer afternoon. From a personal documentary project entitled "Next of Kin" about the photographer's two children's early years spent in parallel universes. Model released.
    ella+sam12-08-07_1999.jpg
  • A four year-old girl plays some sort of religious role-play game - perhaps an angel or the Virgin Mary - but what do see is her age of innocence as she wears an NHS blanket like a shawl over her head and draped over her arms like a Christian icon. Next to her is her 18 month-old baby brother who has learned to drink his warm milk from a plastic bottle, recently coming to like both breast and formula milk. Together they look at something that is interesting out of frame. The viewer looks up at the two siblings from a low angle to see them tall against the corniced ceiling of their South London home. From a personal documentary project entitled "Next of Kin" about the photographer's two children's early years spent in parallel universes. Model released.
    ella+sam13-12-08_1999.jpg
  • A four year-old girl throws a tantrum while playing with her young two-year-old brother in the back garden of their South London home. We look down on the small girl who throws her head back in a rage, mouth wide open, after not getting what she wants. But in the background, her younger sibling is oblivious to her emotional outburst and gets on with playing at the foot of a children's garden slide - in an innocent world of his own. From a personal documentary project entitled "Next of Kin" about the photographer's two children's early years spent in parallel universes. Model released.
    ella+sam14-20-03_2000.jpg
  • A four year-old girl pulls at her mother's t-shirt as she pushes a pushchair uphill while her two year-old brother in turn pushes her up the incline of a street in Rennes, Brittany, France. In order of size - from tallest to smallest, they march together up the gradient of this French street, they laugh at this great game of push and pull. The three are on holiday in this town, during a vacation to Britanny. From a personal documentary project entitled "Next of Kin" about the photographer's two children's early years spent in parallel universes. Model released.
    ella+sam15-13-07_2000.jpg
  • On a wooden boardwalk that stretches across a sandy beach landscape, a young girl runs at full speed away from her mother and younger brother who walk along this walkway on the beach at Calais, France. It is low-tide, hazy winter sunshine makes soft shadows on the sand but there are few people out in the cold beyond except for a family in the surf approximately 200 yards away in the distance. Half-way back to the shore is a lone lifebelt attached to its pole in case of emergency. This near-deserted beach is an idyllic and tranquil place, allowing children to let off steam. Ffrom a personal documentary project entitled "Next of Kin" about the photographer's two children's early years spent in parallel universes. Model released.
    ella+sam16-18-07_2000.jpg
  • A crowd of Londoners laugh during an afternoon's Punch and Judy show at The Lambeth Show in Brockwell Park, Herne Hill, England. Children of all ages along with parents grin at the out-of-sight puppet entertainment during this public festival of amusements and stalls in London's inner-city. Only one young girl sits unimpressed at the standard of comedy. She sits with her mother looking serious while the kids nearby roar with laughter - hugely involved with the show. From a personal documentary project entitled "Next of Kin" about the photographer's two children's early years spent in parallel universes. Model released.
    ella+sam17-15-07_2001.jpg
  • Seen from a low angle, we see a big sister turning around to see what her younger brother is up to as they sit back-to-back in a park in London, England. The boy is actually playing with the girl's toy windmill, turning its sails proving a fun way of passing part of a summer's afternoon in this inner-city park. His sister is unimpressed however and she is about to snatch her own property back - not because she needs it, but simply because it is hers. These siblings are having to learn sharing each other's things and as a five and three year-old are finding out, it's a hard lesson. From a personal documentary project entitled "Next of Kin" about the photographer's two children's early years spent in parallel universes. Model released.
    ella+sam18-15-07_2001.jpg
  • A brother and sister run through the back garden of their South London home. We see the younger sibling - a boy of three leading his big sister by the hand in some sort of follow-my-leader game. He pulls hard to tow the girl along who wears Wellington boots that are too large for her and they both hold out their arms for stability. From a personal documentary project entitled "Next of Kin" about the photographer's two children's early years spent in parallel universes. Model released.
    ella+sam19-20-08_2001.jpg
  • It is late on a summer Somerset evening and light is fading towards bedtime for children. Clutching a small bunch of daisies, a five year-old girl gazes at one of her flowers as if held in a trance. Standing in a meadow belonging to her grandfather, she holds up a single stem and twirls it around in her fingers to see its shape and sense its smell. About to climb over a gate in the background, her younger brother is having an adventure of his own, standing on the metal horizontal part of the frame, holding on with one hand. It is a tranquil scene of childhood innocence, of long summer days and summer holidays. From a personal documentary project entitled "Next of Kin" about the photographer's two children's early years spent in parallel universes. Model released.
    ella+sam20-14-10_2001.jpg
  • Peering through a hole in the huge metal door of an old Victorian tunnel, two children stand on the place where a railway once emerged from this brick entrance - a link between nearby Dulwich and the Crystal Palace. Now the London Wildlife Trust maintains this once-wild wood at Sydenham, South London, England, which has reverted to forest again, 40 years after (one of the first the electrified railways) line fell silent. The brother and sister look through to see if there is light at the end of this tunnel but it has long been bricked up, sealed to deter vandals and danger to all. It is Autumn and the leaves on the beech and oak trees are about to fall, adding to the already organic deep forest floor. From a personal documentary project entitled "Next of Kin" about the photographer's two children's early years spent in parallel universes. Model released
    ella+sam21-20-10_2001.jpg
  • Late at night in a South London street, two young children remain fast asleep in the back of their parents' car. It is a dark despite pools of light falling from street lighting that throw heavy shadows beneath other vehicles. The silhouettes of large ash trees can be seen against the city skyline. The interior lights in the car are switched on to reveal the sleeping childrens' faces. An older girl has her mouth wide open while her younger brother is seen in profile but both are peacefully unaware that they have arrived home after a long drive fro the countryside to the inner-city. From a personal documentary project entitled "Next of Kin" about the photographer's two children's early years spent in parallel universes. Model released.
    ella+sam22-27-12_2001.jpg
  • Two children lay down on the ground at the foot of a solid dry stone wall, up in the hills of the area of northern England known as the Dales, near Settle, Yorkshire. The two brother and sister have their faces against the rocks that serve as boundaries and enclosures for farmers and land owners. These walls were built by tradesmen called Wallers, a dying tradition and skill. Dry stone walls are constructed from stones without any mortar to bind them together. The wall is held up by special construction methods and by its weight. The stones must be carefully selected by shape to ensure that they have a large contact surface area with their neighbours and so do not slip. They are a legacy of the movement towards enclosure of common farming and grazing land as English society moved away from medieval feudalism. Model released.
    ella+sam23-21-02_2002.jpg
  • A young three year-old boy has his hair cut by his mother in the family South London home. Lifting his hair with her fingers, the mum snips with a pair of scissors. While lifting her left elbow to gain the right angle of her cutting, we see her holding a comb in her mouth. The boy's elder sister looks on offering unhelpful comments which will eventually lead to an exchange of unkind words between the siblings while their mother concentrates hard on not making a mess of the kid's haircut. From a personal documentary project entitled "Next of Kin" about the photographer's two children's early years spent in parallel universes. Model released.
    ella+sam24-14-04_2002.jpg
  • Two children walk along a path between two dry stone walls in the countryside around the Yorkshire town of Settle. Striding between the boundaries of agricultural grazing land, whose trees and undergrowth has been cleared, the kids have come from a distant farmhouse which has recently lost its stock of sheep due to Foot and Mouth disease. Dry stone walls serve as boundaries and enclosures for farmers and land owners. Built by tradesmen called Wallers, a dying tradition and skill, they're constructed from stones without any mortar to bind them together. The stones must be carefully selected by shape to ensure that they have a large contact surface area with their neighbours and so do not slip. They are a legacy of the movement towards enclosure of common farming and grazing land as English society moved away from medieval feudalism. Model released.
    ella+sam25-23-06_2002.jpg
  • Looking down on them from above, we see a brother and sister play with free airline blindfolds while in their parents' bed at the family home in South London. Pretending to be blind, they giggle at this hilarious and childish game as if acting out the speak and see no evil. From a personal documentary project entitled "Next of Kin" about the photographer's two children's early years spent in parallel universes. Model released.
    ella+sam26-23-07_2002.jpg
  • Two children play on interactive computers in an upper floor of the National Portrait Gallery, the well-known art museum on Trafalgar Square in Central London. The institution's IT Gallery allows young users to search and discover for themselves great works of art from its extensive database including this image of the Tudor Queen Elizabeth I whose painted portraits are on view elsewhere: Her face seen on the far right screen. From a personal documentary project entitled "Next of Kin" about the photographer's two children's early years spent in parallel universes. Model released.
    ella+sam27-09-08_2002.jpg
  • Two young children experience a little independence during a walk by themselves through a wood near their grandparents' cottage in Somerset, England. Discovering for themselves the delights of childish adventure without the worries of security unfortunately prevalent in the inner-cities. Here in the forest they return home with the sun in their eyes having had the time of their lives. The beech trees' branches are full with leaves on this mid-summer afternoon in this tranquil scene of childhood innocence, of long summer days and summer holidays. From a personal documentary project entitled "Next of Kin" about the photographer's two children's early years spent in parallel universes. Model released.
    ella+sam28-23-07_2002.jpg
  • On a busy Summer weekend, families enjoy the old Tarr Steps Clapper Bridge over the River Barle in Exmoor National Park, Devon, England. Crossing on the huge stone prehistoric slabs which weigh up to 5 tons apiece, children play with fishing nets, walk dogs and sit enjoying the view below of others who mess about in a small inflatable dinghy on the flowing stream. Located in a National Nature Reserve about 2.5 miles (4 km) south east of Withypool and 4 miles (6 km) north west of Dulverton, this spot is a favourite tourist place in South-West England. This typical clapper bridge construction may date to around 1000 BC. It is 180 feet (55 m) long and has 17 spans and designated by English Heritage as a grade I listed building.
    ella+sam29-25-08_2002.jpg
  • Reaching high above his head, a young four year-old boy waves a hoop drenched in a soapy solution that creates large bubbles trailing in the air at a camp site in Heerde, Gelderland, in the Netherlands. We look up at the lad between tall trees during his summer holidays as he arcs the rod loaded with a thin film of soap water, creating a thin film of iridescence on its surface. But moments after it forms, it bursts. From a personal documentary project entitled "Next of Kin" about the photographer's two children's early years spent in parallel universes. Model released.
    ella+sam30-16-08_2002.jpg
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