Those little moments at 3am

I dreamt of making this project in the sleep deprived nights of feeds and diaper changes after giving birth last year. Night after night I would see my baby in my arms lit only by the lamp on the coffee table and I’d wish there was a way to capture these moments. I also longed to be creating again, to be photographing projects that made my heart burst with joy and I missed that sense of community my teams always have. One night at about 3am I decided I’d just make it happen, could it really be possible to pull off a video and stills shoot as a new mum with my baby on set with me?

I sent a text message to another new mum I knew - “I’ve been up all night and my brain is firing with ideas… I’ve got a wild creative idea and wondered if you wanted to be a part of it.” Every single woman said yes.

This project is about the intimate tiny moments that only we as mothers really get to see. The moments which rarely get captured. I produced, shot and edited all of this with my baby by my side. Pre-production happened during nap times, the shoot day with an all female crew, 6 babies, 6 mothers and my goal was to create a safe, gentle space for mothers to feed their babies and for me to capture it. I wanted to create lighting that felt rich, had deep shadows, perhaps it’s a lamp, perhaps it’s the sunrise, but it’s a light that hits the skin and shows the goosebumps, the dimples, the tiny hairs. The video isn’t perfect and glossy, it’s real with little editing. To shoot video with my baby on my chest, to direct the next shots as I fed her in my arms was about creating something that felt real and others could relate to. This was about showing up as a new mother with her baby, in a space that didn’t matter if she cried or needed a feed, whilst doing what I love - photographing real people with real lived experience and creating an environment where others can show up as themselves.