Boy, 9, Learns Photography Skills, Then Captures Beautiful Photos of Newborn Sister: ‘Meant So Much’ (Exclusive)
Rachel and Reuben Norstrom are proud of their budding photographer: son Chris.
Rachel, who goes by @rachelnorstrom across social media, has had several videos go viral on TikTok and Instagram as her followers marvel at the 9-year-old’s striking photography, taking everything from stylish photos of his mom to beautiful interior shots and even heartwarming photos of his little sisters.
“My husband and I are both self-taught photographers. I work full-time in content creation, and photography and videography are a lot of what I do every day,” Rachel tells PEOPLE of how her son got his start.
“Chris definitely had always liked watching us work, so teaching him photography when he asked seemed like the natural next step.”
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When the idea of Chris taking up photography first came up, it seemed like a perfect opportunity to incorporate it into his homeschool curriculum.
“I started teaching Chris as an extracurricular for school three years ago now,” she says. “In the beginning, it was just teaching him how the camera works and letting him set up some takes. Now, he films on manual, has his own gear and comes up with all his own concepts/ideas.”
The proud mom has been the subject of many of Chris’ photos over the years.
“Chris started out using myself as a subject for his work, since I was the one teaching him. This just made sense in the beginning,” she explains. “Watching him then lean into wanting to photograph his siblings and our home, and seeing the world through his eyes, has been so special.”
Chris has brought his younger sisters into his love of photography, adding them to his pool of subjects. When the family recently welcomed baby Freyja, big brother was happy to take newborn photos.
“Watching my eldest baby take such beautiful photos of my newest baby was such a wonderful moment for me, as a mom,” Rachel says. “It meant so much to him also. He loved taking those newborn pictures of Freyja.”
With “a decent age gap” between the 9-year-old and sisters Athena and Freyja, the mom of three finds it “adorable that he sees them as such an amazing subject to photograph.”
“I especially love to see him bond with Athena. Athena is special needs and doesn’t pose or smile on demand for photos, so the candids I watch him snap of her are really something special, because they capture her soul,” she says.
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Along Chris’ photography journey, Rachel has shared his photos on Instagram and TikTok.
“What resonates most with my community online is the family aspect of what we do. None of us have any professional photography training, but as a family, we were able to learn a new skill, start an entire career based off of it and teach that skill to Chris as well,” she says.
“And if he wants to do something with that skill one day, amazing, and if he doesn’t that’s fine, too,” she continues. “We’re here to support him either way. In the meantime, he’s just having fun with it. I love supporting creativity whenever I can with all my kids.”