After nearly ten years of supporting births while pursuing various expressions of myself as an artist, I've finally ventured into the medium of birth photography. Adding in this layer of creativity to my role as support person has been a very rewarding process. It allows me to finesse my doula flow of stepping in to offer suggestions and hands on support, then stepping back to observe and capture the intimate moments that unfold throughout labor and the golden hour.
While most births are photographed on digital, I've taken taken the unconventional route of shooting with film. This results in images that carry emotional power and energy that I believe is enhanced by analogs perfectly imperfect ability to capture a feeling. You can expect ~50 images that tell the story of your labor and early postpartum hours shot on 35mm film, plus some bonus polaroid and disposable camera images.
Rather than take hundreds of images to par down later, I'm shooting 2-3 rolls of film so I'm watching and waiting for the right moment. I might not document every minute, but I will capture the feeling and story of each birth. I typically shoot in black and white for its performance in low light birth settings and nostalgic quality, which I find compliments the timelessness of birth itself.
This offering is automatically included in my birth support package. As an artist, it's important for me to continue developing my practice and fine tuning this skill while adding to my body of work. As a doula, this creative outlet offers another layer of care to my work and over time will allow me to continue finding purpose in this work. If you are not interested in having your birth photographed, we can discuss pregnancy and postpartum images as an alternative instead.
I'm in the process of updating my website with a gallery of my work, in the meantime feel free to explore my Instagram page to view more of my photos!
