Devoted parents can make for some of the most diligent photographers. Open any family album and you will most probably find a well-documented upbringing of a child or group of siblings. It’s what doting parents do, you know. Izabela Urbaniak is no exception, as she has been recording for posterity the activities of her children as they frolic outdoors in the countryside each summer.
The Polish photographer has been doing this since 2012, and as you can imagine, has accumulated quite a collection of photographs celebrating not just her kids, but the universal joys of carefree, cheerful childhood.
Each year for more than a month, Urbaniak and her family make it a point to do things the good old way. They shut down their electronic gadgets, and instead engage and soak in the idyllic natural surroundings of Lugowiska, a small village in Poland. Away from the internet and its attendant gadgets, Urbaniak’s kids immerse themselves in summers that are awash with nature’s priceless joys.
Her photos embody the precious, joyful moments in the lives of her kids. In the many pictures one can see her boys, Antoni, 9, and Julian, 13 fooling around with their other cousins as well as family pets as they romp in the lake, pick fruits from trees, go after grasshoppers, play in the grass or just having pensive moments. To most of us these pictures also hearken to our childhoods, distant echoes of our own innocence and blissful youth. Urbaniak’s series also proves that gadgets and mainstream media are certainly not the only ways to be entertained.
Only a nostalgic soul would have it in her to capture such priceless moments. “The series is inspired by my own childhood, when I used to visit my grandmother in the summer and spend my school vacations in the countryside,” said Urbaniak. “I am very glad that for a while I can feel like in my childhood. I watch [my children], often participate in games, or even invent them. There, I’m happy…”
For Urbaniak, photography has also transcended being a mere hobby. “Photography had been the passion of my life for several years, until it became my profession. Now I can confidently say that my work isn’t actually work because I really love what I am doing.”
See her adorable children as they soak in every bit of their precious childhood here.
Be sure to join us on Facebook, Twitter and Google+ to stay updated on our most recent posts!