I love being a mum and most things motherhood! Becoming a mother has shaped the photographer that I want to be. I had many grand ambitions of what I thought my photographic career would entail, but I found out quite quickly what was and was not a right fit for me. When my daughter came along, my whole perspective on life changed and my career goals changed. My number one priority was keeping this little human alive, being with her, watching her grow and absorbing all the wonderfulness of this little human.
I remember how amazing the experience was, the primal warrior that you become when you become a mother, it changes you and it changes how you see your life. So my passion for photography became even stronger because I knew that I wanted to be home with her and have the opportunity to raise her. I loved the fact that I could document her growth and enjoy pure, raw emotion - how truly amazing this little ray of light was. The good, the bad, the highs, the lows, the heartbreaking, the heartwarming, so many varying emotions that came from being a mother, I soon realised how important it was for mums to be a part of this documentation.
So when I’m asked to shoot a fresh little bubba straight out of the oven I explain I don’t create fairytales, I document your new life. I don’t even like calling it a newborn shoot, more of an in home new family shoot. I’m just not that kind of photographer. I’m into real images, raw emotion and beauty at its purest. Motherhood and new life, there’s nothing really quite like it - it’s like being this vulnerable butterfly and fierce tiger at the same time, it doesn’t make sense, but really not much of parenting does make sense.....am I right? The baby isn’t the only human that exists now (although it may feel that way a LOT of the time) there's Dad, there could be siblings or fur siblings and the warrior keeping it all together, MUM.
Motherhood is freakin hard, it's exhausting, challenging, soul breaking and sometimes unbearable. But we keep on doing it because the love we feel far outweighs every other emotion.
When I look at my personal photos there's one thing missing....Me, this is probably quite typical of a photographer and unfortunately quite typical of a Mum. I felt disgusting, fat and exhausted, so EXHAUSTED. I was lucky if I had showered let alone dressed. Constantly feeding, burping, changing and settling, it was never ending. But, I wish I had images of some of these things, some raw and personal moments of my first weeks as a mum. I have amazing photos of her with her dad that bring me back to when she was that little, crying in the bath, sleeping on his chest, looking up into his eyes, being wrapped in his big arms. But I have less then a handful of photos with my Cody, and I only allowed them because I had my hair and makeup done and felt half like a human - but they do not represent any of my moments as a mum and they aren’t anything like what I wish I had.
So I want to make it my mission to give this to mothers. It's okay if you feel like shit, it's ok that you’ve put on glorious amounts of kgs, or your hair is on its fourth day of dry shampoo, photography has a way of embracing these 'flaws' and capturing the real truth and beauty of emotion. You are the most beautiful being to that little baby and you need to be in photos with your children. Trust me, they will thank you for it because they will be able to see and remember how much their mummy loved, adored and cherished them. They will be able to flick through that photo album (maybe more likely your instagram feed) and laugh at how tragic your outfits were.
I want to be able to show motherhood in all its wonderful, raw glory because sometimes motherhood's not beautiful, it can be often gross, exhausting and it's probably the hardest thing you’ll ever do, but at the same time the most rewarding. You become truly selfless once you have children, you're not number one anymore, daddy’s not as high in the food chain, but as much as everything changes, nothing changes more than it does for a mother. I’m not sure what it is but it's this ingrained primal thing that changes in us, we literally will die for our children, we created them and will do anything in our power to protect them.
I love capturing those tiny little bits of this fresh little human, I'm not interested in wrapping your baby into an origami parcel or putting them in pumpkins or baskets. Because all of this is make believe, it's god damn cute make believe and I have a huge respect for the hard work that goes into newborn photography, but I couldn’t do it I simply don’t have the patience for all that retouching involved, and it is really an art perfected by these ninja baby whisperers. For me it's not motherhood, brand new families are all about being wrapped up in those big arms of yours, sleeping on your shoulder, giving life from your body, holding daddy's finger, looking up at you, snuggling with their siblings, crying and laughing, that’s what its all about for me.
So I employ you mothers, DO IT, invest in your memories trust me you won’t regret it - I know how hard it is to shower let alone leave the house with a newborn so that’s why I offer an in home personal shoot catered to you and your moments. So if you're not into the overly styled airbrushed newborn photography and you want a unique and personal shoot for you and your family, real images of your life and love, memories not fairytales - I’m your girl - get in contact, I’d love to help you create some memories. You are the light and love in your child's life and when they are older, boy will they cherish these images just as much as you do. Even if you don't book in a photoshoot, give your phone to daddy, LET him take pictures of you and be in some photos with your kids.
