In time for Mother’s Day, here is a post featuring my friend and fellow photographer Jenny and her beautiful little baby boy Baxter Blue (what a great name!).
When I visited Jenny a few weeks after Baxter was born, she asked me to bring my camera. Any new Mum knows how overwhelming and demanding the first few weeks with a newborn can be. Between nappy changes, non-stop cuddling and breastfeeding , Jenny wasn’t getting much of a chance to photograph Baxter.
This was a true documentary photography session. I was just there chatting to Jenny, eating almond croissants and cooing over Baxter’s cuteness whilst snapping away.
I’ve never been one for putting babies plant pots but I usually do look for clean and pretty spaces when taking family portraits. But recently I am more and more drawn to the idea of documenting family life as it is. When I look back on the photographs of Cosmo’s (my little boy) early days, I love seeing little snippets of what life was like then, like a plate of half-eaten Brie sandwiches because that’s all I ate as I was so pleased that I could eat soft cheeses again. Or babygrows hanging on the radiator, the breastfeeding cushion, my legs in joggers, and just a general messiness that would make me want to run around and tidy up now but I was totally cool with back then. It all brings back the memories of those magical first few weeks.
I hope that this is what these photographs will do for Jenny in years to come.
