Hong Kong Grandparent & Extended Family Photographer
Extended Family From All Over the World!
Hong Kong Grandparent Photography: Why It Matters
Some of the most meaningful family portraits I make involve three or four generations in the same frame — grandparents visiting from abroad, families returning to Hong Kong after decades away, great-grandparents meeting great-grandchildren for the first time.
I've photographed four generations of a single Hong Kong family. I've done sessions with a three-year-old and her 98-year-old great-grandmother. I've walked families through the Kowloon neighbourhoods their grandparents grew up in, decades after they moved to Canada. These aren't standard family sessions — they're something closer to documentary portraits of a family's history.
Hong Kong toddler with two parents and four grandparents in the Botanical Garden, Mid-Levels.
If grandparents are visiting Hong Kong, or if your whole family is gathering here for the first time in years, this is worth doing properly.
Fast forward ten years or so, when I was a very busy, and I began to become more of a portrait photographer, that is to say I would spend 25-50% of the session working with the entire family. I still concentrated on getting ‘non-standard’ images of the kidlets, but I tried to give more. Still, there is nothing better as a photographer than coming home from a session, loading up the photos into the computer and bursting into laughter into a shot that you didn’t realize you had taken.
Visiting Hong Kong? Book a Multi-Generational Family Session
Here are a few shots of a photo session I did in Stanley, Hong Kong, where the kids came with Grandma, who was visiting from out of town. She was super-youthful and great with the kids.
Four Generations in One Frame: Extended Family Portraits in Hong Kong
For me the most meaningful full family photos come when we have multiple generations in the photos. These can be hard to organize, as sometimes part of the family is coming from a different part of the world. Twice in my career I have photographed three year old children with their 98-year-old grandmothers. This is pretty special when you think that you can have two living members of a family born 95 years apart! One of these grandmoms is still alive at 105, but I haven’t had the opportunity to photograph her again.
Below are some shots from 2008, FOUR GENERATIONS of one Hong Kong family, including one Hong Kong Olympian.
The Great-Grandmother born in 1910, her Great Grandson was born in 2005. That’s pretty special IMO.
Returning to Hong Kong: Photographing Your Family's History in the Neighbourhoods They Grew Up In
Last year I photographed an extended family of HK-ers who had been living in Canada for decades. They all came back for a visit: one one-year-old (one day after her first birthday), the parents and four grandparents. We visited the neighbourhoods in Hong Kong where the grandparents had grown up: Whampoa Garden and Pok Fu Lam. What a fun day, and those photos are gold, especially in 50 years.
Here are some recent photos from a session with one kid and six adults, which included three grandparents. Honestly 15 years ago I might not have taken this outdoor session, but now I love them. It was all about me opening up my mind a bit and becoming less rigid to be honest. I think my work is better for it. I know the grandparents love being at the sessions. Sometimes, if they are very elderly, they can join just for a portion of the session. (Not an issue with any of the people on this page however!)
And of course I will post this shot of my parents with their six kids and six grandkids and various partners. They lived for their grandchildren.
Dr. Earle & Joan Taylor with their brood. Picton, Ontario, Canada.
Planning an extended family reunion in Hong Kong? Let's document the whole crew!
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