baby love and his grande entrance into this world | a pandemic birth

I met the Loves one cozy February day before the world fell to pieces. I sat across from them at a local bakery and proceeded to fall in love with them as the minutes ticked by. Their questions had me rolling, their desire to birth to hard core rap was endearing, and their back and forth banter was like the most well oiled dance (hip hop of course). I couldn’t wait to attend their birth as their doula and document the whole thing as their photographer.

We met right before the birth on their porch for a planning session and I arrived to William decked out in Corona beer garb. That little gesture was such a relief after weeks of being at home and the heaviness of a country in sorrow. That’s the thing, even in the midst of grief babies come and they bring joy, joy, joy. You can’t stop it. This sweet couple was ready for the ride even though a lot felt up in the air and their attitudes were so uplifting.

What wasn’t up in the air for this birth was that they could be together, supported by a doula and surrounded by a caring midwife and a nurse. It would be different and masked (not for mama!) but they would be held. My heart was breaking into pieces for other families who had stories planned and who had to give up their support at that time. The WNC Birth Center was incredible in calming anxious spirits and delivering babies into a world where everything was up in the air.

No matter what, I knew that this family was not going to have an average birth story, but I thought it was going to be doing hip circles to some Anderson Paak or something to do with the pandemic.

Fast forward to just a normal day on my end. I get a text that Lisa’s water had broken! I was so excited but also pacing myself because she was a first time mom and oftentimes premature rupture of membranes can mean hours of waiting for contractions to start. I encouraged them to call the midwives and told them to check back in soon. An hour went by and I hadn’t heard anything so I called up Dad. He answered kind of panicky and I could hear Lisa roaring in the background. He said very matter of factly “Her contractions are every minute, for a minute, for the last hour. And she feels like she needs to push. Do you think we should head in?” In a flurry of thoughts I told him I thought they should call 911 to come deliver the baby because I knew they were pretty far from the birth center. He told me they were gonna make it to the birth center and I jumped in my car and off we raced.

I have pretty bad driving anxiety and never speed, but somehow the adrenaline was pumping and I screeched into the parking lot in my mini van (Fast and the Furious style). I saw a group of people surrounding a car and I jumped out as fast as I could, adjusting my camera settings for the bright sun, and showed up to Lisa just casually pushing her baby out standing outside her car. The scene was so calm and joyful. The sun felt lovely and it felt like Spring. William (in his Corona garb again! ha!) filmed the whole thing with the biggest smile on his face. The midwives were laughing and their hands were steady waiting to catch this baby who was so anxious to be born.

2 minutes after me arriving Lisa roared her boy into the world while neighbors were gawking on their dog walk and the sun illuminated it all.

“You did it!” I yelled! Shocked and tickled at the perfect birth story for these three.

The hours that followed were sacred like they always are. There was bravery while being repaired (and clinging onto Dad), supportive hands, fingers feeling the rush of life in the chord. There was baby wrinkles in the lamp lit room and french fries being fed. There was SUCH GRATEFULNESS dripping from their lips. I watched them from afar, huddled like a football team and then bowed out quietly as they sank into the greatest, most saturating, safest love nest right in the center of a pandemic. I knew we would be alright.

sacred roots | jan

Many years ago I photographed Jan, an homage to the hard work she had put into her body and into her life. She was cut and tight and strong and no one could take that from her. Just freshly emerging from a season that was incredibly painful, she had hardened. She looked damn good though. The pictures turned out amazing. I remember leaving the session feeling so empowered and excited about the images we captured. Little did I know that Jan was at the peak of a serious eating disorder. The control over her body had reached a dangerous point, her harm of self out of control, and it was not long after our session that she was admitted into a rehab for treatment.

Fast forward to this Summer.

She came to me so bright and in her body…like it was a home not an enemy. I noticed the new ink on her arm, ”brave”, and thought to myself how incredible it was that she could say that word about herself. We wove in and out of the river, clinging to trees, sinking into the roots and it was magical. I noticed how soft she was, melting into the earth and into herself. I noticed how strong her body still was, confident. We talked about life and how freaking hard it is, she opened her hands to the warmth of the sun. Oh we celebrated. Oh we giggled and squealed in delight. Oh how we sat in the silence of the forest with the stream trickling by.

This is how I want my sessions to be forever. A sighing praise.

growing | art and bri

This was a dream:

the bare feet, the missing teeth, the way their parents arms encircled them. I loved every second of photographing this family on their little farm.

I was so taken with the care this family took with the food that they grew and in that same vein the tender care they loved their children with. Growing is such a journey. It’s not always smooth, there are mistakes, but love and sun sure do make things grow and in this home there was sun and love a plenty.
To follow this family you can watch them on their YouTube channel:

https://www.youtube.com/c/ARTandBRI