'I didn't miss a thing': Nick Haymes photographs his sons' entire lives, from verrucas to a homemade hamster coffin

Family photo albums rarely open with the Twin Towers in flames. For Nick Haymes, however, that was the logical starting point. Living in New York at the time of the September 11 attacks, the photographer says he realised how short life is. That event brought him closer to Lina, his future wife, and profoundly shaped his decision to start a family, as he explained in a recent interview.

His new book, Chronograph, spans from that day to the present, tracing the growth of his two sons, Philipp and Lawrence, from infancy to young adulthood. The photographer captures the mundane moments—verrucas, messy kitchens, ear cleanings—with the same attention as birthdays and rites of passage. We see broken arms, beloved pets dying, and the first sprouts of armpit hair.

Haymes, a documentary photographer, approaches this project as a chronicler: he documents his children's lives with remarkable consistency, without asking them to pose. This unfiltered intimacy transforms everyday moments into precious archives, where the banal and the extraordinary coexist. The title Chronograph evokes both the passage of time and the measuring instrument, a choice that underlines the almost scientific precision of this family endeavour.

The book, published by a specialized press, has been praised by critics for its honesty and its ability to show parenthood in all its complexity. Haymes says he wanted to "not miss a thing" in their lives, and this long-term project has become a touching testimony on memory, filiation, and the fleeting nature of time.

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Written by the ADM desk based on The Guardian — Art. Read the original article for the full story.