Remember the days when you were a child? Perhaps it was spring break or summer vacation; there were no cell phones back then, and video games were just beginning to gain popularity, there was nothing better to do but be outside. The days included riding bikes through the neighborhood, sledding down a grassy hillside on a makeshift cardboard sled and trading Garbage Pail Kids with the kids next door. Life was so simple, and little was thought about except play and fun. Oh, to be a child again…

Five months ago, wedding and fine arts photographer, Adrian McDonald was in his backyard in the Jamaican parish of Westmoreland, camera in hand, photographing plants and animals. The neighbor’s children were playing outside, and their laughter and joy permeated the air surrounding them. The sounds caught Adrian’s attention and with their parent’s permission, he snapped a few candids of the kids as they swung on the swing, played with their toys and chased each other, blissfully unaware of life’s troubles. Adrian, who describes himself as a “philosophical photographer who uses photography to bring awareness as well as enable the human condition,” knew that he wanted to begin this new photo series to help remind people to “live, laugh and love” as children do.

[REWIND: TIPS ON HOW TO MAKE THE BIGGEST IMPACT WHEN PHOTOGRAPHING CHILDREN]

Impervious of Adrian and his camera in hand (a sight they saw often), the children played as children do – with abandon and in utter joy. In an interview with Huffington Post, Adrian said, “They were completely oblivious to my existence, just in their own little world living as if life is nothing but utter bliss. There was something about it that filled my soul with an everlasting joy.”

Jumping, chasing, swinging, running and tinkering, only a handful of the shots were conceptualized, the rest, just precious moments that will someday be only a memory, saved in a handful of magical images.

You can see more of Adrian McDonald’s work on his website, Lexon Photography here. To see more from this series follow him on Facebook.

CREDITS: Photographs by Adrian McDonald have been used with permission for SLR Lounge. Do not copy, modify or re-post this article or images without express permission from SLR Lounge and the artist.

[Via Huffington Post/Bored Panda]