Throwback Thursdays!

At 38 weeks pregnant, I know at any time in the next couple of weeks that this little pip will be entering our lives. Being on the edge of this monumental milestone has made me extremely reflective of my past.  Without dragging you all down an emotional and hormonal lane, to state it simply, I feel so grateful for the steps that have lead me to where I am today.  One of the steps on that path involves these incredibly special little girls.

In 1996 after I graduated from Pratt, I took a job as a nanny in New York City. Quickly erase from your minds any ridiculous nanny notions that have been brought to the forefront of most people’s minds from books like “The Nanny Dairies” or from Star magazine dramas!  I luckily somehow got hired by a normal hard working NYC family and my one year contract lead to 4 years.  In addition to that, one of my most thorough and longest running photography projects. I photographed these girls every day during my time with them and the best thing happened, it became normal. They quickly stopped posing and making “cheese” smiles and came to know the sight of my camera as casually as they knew the sight of me. Allowing me the most amazing privilege of being able to document a portion of the lives of 2 sisters for the 4 years I was with them.

I met Danielle and Eve when they were 4 and 5. Danielle, the sister on the right had just started Kindergarten and Eve was still in preschool. It’s hard for me to imagine two sisters more different yet somehow perfectly matched.  They are like two pieces of a puzzle, each with a different design but needing each other to be complete. Photography bliss.  While one sister was dressed in pink and singing Spice Girls songs, the other was dressed like a boy, with bruises up and down her legs, begging to go skateboarding!

The photograph at the top of this page I call “Dr. Dani”. This image was taken earlyyy one morning.  I had slept over the night before to take care of the girls as I occasionally did.  I was sleeping just down the hallway from the girls’ room when I was awoken by a very soft “Ouch”.  I laid there with my ears pricked up wondering what these two were up to and why they were up to it so early!!!  After a few more quiet “Ouch”s and “Daniellllle”s I grabbed my camera and tip toed down the hallway. What I witnessed was one of the sweetest and most beautiful moments of trust and sisterly love.  Danielle was attempting to carefully remove one of Eve’s first loose teeth and Eve was allowing her to do it.  What makes my heart melt is Eve’s hand on Danielle’s arm, not in a white knuckle way but in a gentle, relaxed and fully confident of her sister’s doctor ability kind of way.

This photograph titled, “Snakey” possibly could have gotten me fired but gratefully it didn’t!  Yes I let the girls touch the snake, the snake that some random man let go for a swim in a fountain in Central Park.  I know, I know, but let’s not focus on that and let’s focus on what a cool photographic opportunity it created! (To be honest the whole situation seemed so innocent as it was happening!)

These two sisters were curious!  About everything!  Even Eve with her love of all things girly wanted to pet that snake!  In this image we see once again the amazing sisterly bond and trust. We have two curious little girls that climbed up on the edge of the fountain while the other spectators stayed on the others side. We also see Danielle, the elder, completely protecting Eve with her body.  While they both have their little fingers on that snake, I know for a fact that Eve took comfort in her sister’s protective position and that Danielle took pride in being the one to protect her sister.  And this is how these two worked. Two very different little personalities yet two little souls that loved each other and needed each other in a way I had never witnessed before.

So while I have plenty of images of these sisters solo with their idiosyncrasies shining, it is the images of them together that reveal their magical sisterly bond, that will forever be my favorites.

Thank you Danielle and Eve for teaching me so much about sisterhood, the joys of childhood and also the extreme importance of always having a camera at hand to capture the true and special moments that come with everyday life!

Susannah Gill is located in El Dorado Hills CA. She photographs weddings, families & babies in Tahoe, San Francisco, the Bay area and is always looking to travel! Phone:1-916-936-7363 Email: susannah@susannahgill.com