This study explored nursery practitioners 'slowed down' documentary photography in everyday moments. The enquiry draws on Documentary Photography, Visual Sociology and Early Childhood and entails a novel application of the theoretical concept of 'presence' (Senge, P., C. O. Scharmer, J. Jaworski, and B. S. Flowers. 2008. "Presence: Exploring Profound Change in People, Organizations and Society." Boston: Nicholas Brealey Publishing.). Naturalistic data collection techniques and thematic analysis were employed. An original application of 'presence' supported practitioners' shared language and discursive resource for visual practice that invited questions; supported children's sensemaking and mediation of relationships. This new theorisation and application of presence offers a 'holding space' for these activities and nuanced seeing anew. This creative disruption is significant in speeded-up educational contexts.