Miriam Neal

Where I\'m Raising Them.

Where I\'m Raising Them is an ongoing body of work, made primarily in black and white, that follows the lives of four siblings in Cambridgeshire. It traces growing up, the relationships they form, their unique connection with the natural world, and the nostalgia many of us carry for our own early years. I turned the camera inwards, to a season that passes all too quickly, letting me look more slowly and thoughtfully at how light and shadow play within ordinary moments and make something more of them: the tension, tenderness and quiet drama of everyday life. That part of life often gets shrunk or hidden away, and I would rather show how wonderful it is. Childhood is changing fast in a world of screens, and there is still one where children have water fights, climb trees, build dens and make mud cakes, and that is worth seeing. I am lucky enough to often be present with them as they explore and meet the world, and the project becomes an exploration of their naivety, creativity and self-discovery, as much about motherhood as about childhood, the two impossible to separate. The life I photograph is the life I\'m living. Observing closely, the simple things, and photographing it so I can wonder at its beauty as a passing season.