In September I asked my expecting friend out for a photographic adventure. Actually, I visited her at home, in her bathroom, in her bath. There's many inspiring images floating on Pinterest you know - it was time (and opportunity) to try out recreating them and let some fantasy flow. Here's what we did: got some milk, got some milk powder, got some blossoms, green branches and a light sheer dress. The bath tub full of warm milky water covering pinkish flowers looked so tempting and magical - here's a few bits of hour cooperative result.
Pregnancy is a very personal matter, if not THE most personal mater at all - no need to say or question it. That's why I am so overall happy and grateful to the women and couples, who open up to this topic - sharing their birth stories, strengths, pain, difficulties, joy, complication or advice. All together they are making the topic of birth more human again, bringing the experience of birth back to it's natural roots and unbinding it from a purely clinical matter. Even for the ones who are more selective with sharing - I know they feel better about themselves and their decisions after getting inspired by private stories made public on personal blogs. I know that they get calmer about the yet unknown first-time body experiences, becoming a parent at the same time and the emotional firework or overload it brings with it.
I am grateful that the action of birth in general has very much changed since I myself was born in the Soviet regime Lithuania; that here in Germany there's a freedom of choice how to give birth to ones child in comparison to nowadays outdated Lithuanian limitations where private midwifes are haunted like black magic evil witches; and I am grateful for having inspiring friends who don't mind opening up, sharing their beautiful stories and contributing to a general knowledge of natural beauty and a lifestyle free of disgust, scepticism or body alienation.
Here are a few stories, that completely opened up my view and let my knowledge grow immensely. I will forever be thankful to these courageous people around the globe for letting me follow their stories and set myself free in my yet to come future decisions: the story of Alba, the story of Roo, the wonderful short movie Mild Witchcraft and the photographer of births / mother of three Georgia.
The topic and all the grand magic behind pregnancy and birth will always be my kind of topic which I never get tired of being curious about. Photographing it is yet another terrain waiting for the opportunities to be explored.
