WHY I TAKE THE PICTURES.
If you’ve been searching the inter webs for photographers, chances are you’ve heard the story: as a military spouse, I traveled the world with my husband, had kids and a kit camera and just couldn’t contain my excitement for taking pictures of my life and my family. Shabam! I’m a birth and family photographer and filmmaker……
This is it. We don’t get do-overs.
I take the photos for you and I take the photos for them.
Life isn’t always easy but there’s beauty in all of it. As I reflect on my own journey in motherhood, I wonder how my own mother must have experienced it. The time has passed for me to ask her but what I do have is photos, photos of her and me as we navigated life. Someone in that moment pushed a button and because of that I have this tangible piece of my mother’s and my story I can hold in my hand and study. Shortly after she passed I was gifted an album from my father, who despite being divorced for years had held on to it until I was older. It was like I gained access to a whole new side of her I didn’t know and having that experienced after she passed was such a blessing.
As a mother now, our life is often compartmentalized based on our backdrop and duty station. I cherish looking back at the stages we were in, what we made it through and every single year that passes I become more and more grateful for the times my past me picked up a camera. It is fleeting. Fleeting in a way you can only truly understand once you experience it, despite everyone telling you from the moment you become a mother that time flies and to cherish the moments. The hardships that bring you to your knees in the middle of the night crying into the darkness wondering if it will ever stop until one day you can’t remember the last time you questioned if you could get through it. And your kids are making friends and you’re googling terms so you can understand what they’re saying. And I look at them and I see glimpses in their faces that instantly pull me back into moments where it was me and them and that felt like our entire world, completely full and depleted all at once just trying to make it through to the next nap time so I could breathe.
Our stories create us, our life changes sometimes in an instant and today is always a good day to photograph those you love and those who love you.
And then there’s the grit of it.
My wonderful husband bought me that camera while I was fully engulfed in completing my Masters in Social Work, starting on a journey to help kids who had experienced abuse and neglect and their families. I graduated, worked with children in foster care then adults with severe and persistent mental illnesses, had a baby, followed my husband to Italy, had another baby and then …
…my mother passed away and it rocked my world in ways I never expected. The lessons she taught me through her death and the moments after are gifts only a mother can give.
So, why should you get these moments documented?
Our stories matter, its one of our greatest gifts to those we love. I believe mothers and fathers and families and children deserve to see themselves love and be loved. I believe motherhood in all its grit and pain and sleepless nights and shifting bodies is breathtakingly beautiful. I believe I can still make a difference in the world and in the lives of those around me through photographing and filming life and celebrating your story. If you’re feeling brave enough to be vulnerable in front of the camera and be present with your family, I’d love the opportunity to capture memories alongside you!
During Covid lockdown I jumped on the opportunity to learn something I had been putting off for years…filmmaking. I love looking back on this as my very first film I put together, documenting a regular day home with my family. I love being able to tell other families stories in this cinematic way and knowing how much my boys adore looking back and watching this over and over, I can attest these moments will be treasured for years to come. I cannot wait to bring this to the families of El, Paso!
