I have shot 3 women for Birthrights thus far, with at least 4 left to go and a few open slots. It’s been a really damn cool project.
So far, every woman I’ve worked with has had a very different story, parenting experience, and motivation, than the others. One woman talked about feeling blissfull and energetic, another horrified and utterly exhausted. One described feeling distant and fragmented, another was a little surprised to still be alive.
It’s been super amazing to talk to these ladies and to in some small way immortalize their current location in the lifelong journey of motherhood.
My current sociological hypothesis : Every woman has been profoundly adversely effected by the propagation of an utterly unrealistic patriarchal beauty and purity standard in this country, and it boils the fuck to the surface when you grow a kid.
If you relate to that last statement, read this: http://weseekjoy.blogspot.com/2013/12/babies-ruin-bodies.html
The above is one of the pictures I shot of my first model for Birthrights. It was just a snapshot at the end, of her having tucked her forearm under the small of her back.
I took the image because I liked the loose skin at her side, I thought it would look more dramatic than it does. Later the composition was appealing to me but I didn’t know why, so I put together this little teaser image. I just thought it looked neat and weird, like most of the pictures I take of hands. Now I’m like.. whoa. All birthy and shit. Wicked.