"In the Midst of Things": Chronicle of the maturing of three ordinary children

EVERY DAY PHOTOGRAPHERS AROUND THE WORLD looking for new ways to tell stories or to capture what we previously did not notice. We choose interesting photo projects and ask their authors what they wanted to say. This week we are publishing the project of Sarah Hyett, who is shooting her sister's children, trying to understand what is growing up.

I have been studying photography for seven years, but my interest in it woke up much earlier — even when I was putting pictures on family albums in five years. I am interested in the course of time, the inevitability of death and what comes with age: loss, growth, decay, uncertainty, hope and fear. Growing up is such a short and such an important period; the time when we develop both on the physical and personal levels, we lose so much and gain so much.

For many years I have been photographing my nephews — Emma, Ethan, and William — more and more plunging into the study of childhood, in the broadest sense of the word. They grew up, and I continued to shoot them, but only in the last year and a half has this series really becometheir the project. For this we must say thanks not only to the children, but also to my sister with her husband. Without their unlimited love and willingness to help, nothing would have happened. Despite the fact that adults are not visible here (except for the hand of my sister, just a little bit), my relations with my sister and the history of the family played a big role. Even though I myself have grown up a long time ago, sometimes I still feel like a stray child left unattended.