Photographers – Motherhood – Newborn Babies
There must be a reason why photographers are not very good at verbal communication. I think we get lazy.
Annie Leibovitz
I feel guilty that I haven’t blogged in a little while. It’s been a busy two months and I’ve been distracted by our family vacation, our very busy photo studio and of course, my children.
My youngest children, twins Ava and Maxwell, have left the baby stage and we have been working on constant potty-training. They both turned three and then proceeded the next week into preschool.
School. My babies are in school. That’s such a shock to me. I was just holding their tiny bodies in my arms yesterday it seems.
It’s difficult to understand, but these changes throw our lives into turmoil and force each of us in the family to adjust, to reflect on our lives, to be cranky, and to work towards acceptance of the change. . . until the next change which will make us recycle through this turmoil again. So, I have been too distracted to think about writing in my blog. I’ve been experiencing and mourning the loss of my babies, and yet I have been celebrating independence, mine and my children’s.
I love photographing pregnant women and their spouses together and talking with them about their expectations of what it will be like to have a child. I love sharing my experiences. I had no clue that motherhood would change me as it has. I talk about this in my photo sessions because motherhood is bittersweet and most of us don’t expect that this little person will pull us in their direction so forcefully.
I especially love when the pregnant couple return with their newborn babies for newborn pictures. I get to see them “in action” and see the beginnings of personal transformation. It’s especially rewarding to me to see families grow and babies and children come back to the studio so the discovery is more apparent. That’s when I usually exchange knowing glances with moms and dads. We have been through the same, together and apart.
Naturally, when you are in baby mode, you are too busy to notice yourself changing. You just feel the exhaustion every moment of the day. It’s that adjustment to the 24/7 part of parenting, which is a real shock to the system. But when you take time to reflect and to see yourself before and after this new person has arrived you get a chance to realize the path you’ve been on and the path ahead. I love that my photography can help a person see themselves at moments in a beautiful way.
Thank you to all my photography clients for letting me be a part of your journey.
The world is full of women blindsided by the unceasing demands of motherhood, still flabbergasted by how a job can be terrific and torturous.
Anna Quindlen, O Magazine
Linnea Lenkus Fine Art Portrait studios are located in Orange County and Los Angeles county. Find the photographer here.
