“The way film distills, into tangible form, the oft-unobserved gestures of our everyday is so special to me. It’s the tiniest, most rhythmic ways of our bodies moving together in time that feel the most holy piece of our bond ~ brewing hot drinks in the morning, lacing up shoes, stepping into the fresh air ~ it’s the way we do it all together, mothers and sons and daughters, like comets encircling one path. It’s something that as a mother you live, and move through deeply ~ but it’s the holiest gift to have it observed. and then to have it captured, in its time capsule-like preciousness ~ by an artist who is herself a mother (whose art and motherhood are deeply interwoven) ~ there is something universal here, something sacred.

Motherhood is a deep and sacred calling to me. To wonder what motherhood means, exactly, to me, is to wonder what sky means to moon; something like to be a soft landing place, to bear witness. So much of motherhood is that to me: bearing witness to everyday miracles. I am moved over and over by this truth unfolding: I am not the teacher here. This thread has woven itself into my motherhood even in the days when I was only longing to be one (which is to say: was slowly, quietly becoming one). We do ivf to bring our children earthside, and it has been such an awakening, abiding part of my story. I’m starry-eyed at the chemistry and alchemy and magic of it all. I think a lot about the echoes of everything. the way each split-second leads to the next split-second which leads to the next… all things joining the holy roll call of seconds that walk us to our children. and so this is what I say to any woman who longs for motherhood (no matter where in the waiting she stands) ~~ to fill those split seconds with as much belief and beauty as you can. Someday the heart from which you mother will be filled with the artifacts of your how you spent your waiting ~ and those long walks, or songs you played over and again, poems you read until they were memorized ~ they will all find a place in your motherhood.” Bridget, Mother

 

“This submission was photographed at the mother’s home. Bridget has beautifully cultivated a warm and loving home for her son Ulysses and it was so important to be able to capture lifestyle images that were meaningful to her and her life. Bridget is someone that my husband and I have known since high school. We are one of the few that have married our high school sweethearts, and so to me to share in the motherhood stage of our lives is so wonderful. Having started this motherhood journey myself not too long ago, I have realized how special motherhood photography is. Mothers give unconditionally and I feel like so many are rarely seen. Their lives become their child’s life and they are hardly celebrated for the legacy they are leaving. They often have images of their children, but don’t have images of themselves. Motherhood photography is a way to honor a woman’s life story, to preserve moments with her children in a way that she can look back on with fondness and pride.” Jacqueline, Photographer

 

WHISKERS AND WILLOW PHOTOGRAPHY