Why I started photographing motherhood

I didn’t become a photographer and then decide I loved photographing motherhood. I became a mom first.

After Eli was born, I picked up a camera because suddenly I wanted to remember everything. The tiny hands, the sleepy snuggles, the way he looked at me, all of it. Then somewhere along the way, taking pictures of my own baby turned into photographing other people, and I started shooting a little bit of everything while I figured out what I actually loved.

Then came Penny, and eventually Kenny, because apparently one tiny person creating chaos wasn’t enough for me. 😂 And the more babies I had, the more I realized why I kept coming back to motherhood and families.

My camera roll had approximately 47,000 pictures of my kids. Sleeping, eating, laughing, covered in God knows what, throwing a fit over the wrong color cup. Plenty of Dad with the kids too, because of course I remembered to take those.

And then there was me.

…hello? Where the hell was I? 😂

I was there for all of it. I packed the snacks, wiped the butts, kissed the boo boos, stayed up all night, made the birthdays magical and knew which stuffed animal and tiny blankie absolutely could NOT be forgotten before we left the house. I was there. I just wasn’t in the pictures.

And I think we forget that while our babies are growing up for the first time, we’re doing this for the first time too. It’s our first time loving them, learning them and becoming their mom. We deserve to remember what that looked like too.

And I think that’s when photography started meaning something completely different to me.

Because these freaking babies just keep growing. Rude, honestly!

The chubby little hands disappeared. They stopped asking to be picked up. And one day they won’t crawl into your lap every five seconds or wrap themselves around you like you’re their entire world. And somehow we’re supposed to soak all of that in while also making dinner, remembering spirit week and figuring out why someone is crying most likely because you didn’t peel the banana correctly.

That is the motherhood I want to photograph.

I don’t need your kids perfectly behaved. I don’t need everyone staring at my camera with their best school picture smile. And I definitely don’t need you waiting until you lose ten pounds, find the perfect outfits or life magically becomes less chaotic.

I want you with your babies. The way they grab your face. The way they climb all over you. The belly laughs, the snuggles and the toddler who completely ignores whatever I just asked them to do.

Because those are the photos I want with my own babies. And let’s be honest, I think that’s all most moms really want too.

We spend so much of motherhood making sure our kids have the memories. We take the pictures, plan the things, keep the magic and document all these tiny pieces of their childhood. But I want moms to have proof that they weren’t just the ones behind it all.

We were right there in the middle of it.

That’s why I photograph motherhood. Photography started because I wanted to remember my own baby, and now I get to give other moms the thing I wanted for myself.

Photos that show them with their babies exactly the way they deserve to remember it.

So take the damn pictures.

Your babies are going to want to see you in their childhood too.