The Day they put down Jax

Not everyone gets to photograph death. That being said, not everyone seeks that out. But I do. Part of my life’s mission is to inhabit spaces like this. I have always been drawn to the beauty in the death process, and I expect I always will be, up until it’s my turn.

One of my dearest friends, Amber, allowed me to photograph the day she and her then partner Donny put their beloved dog, Jax down nearly 6 years ago.

It’s strange for me to revisit old work. I feel as though I am watching a movie when I look at these. I forget that I was the one clicking the shutter.

Photography can be many things to many people. for me, it is a passport to the human experience. It is a ticket that I choose to hand over, to be punched by the men and women who say, “Yes, we want you here.”

I’m coming up on a decade as a professional photographer, and I never cease to be blown away by it. That says something about the medium. It truly is the magic box that the first photographers claimed it to be.

I want to thank Donny and Amber for allowing me to document one of the great grief stories of their lives. It was an honor to be there. I want to leave you with something that Amber said to me when I asked if I could re-share this story on my blog today. Thank you for reminding me that my life’s work is ALL OF IT- both the photography AND the Presence..

“Not everybody can be in relationship to these things, and be in relationship in a way that is beautiful.”