Anna’s Maternity Session
From the moment I spoke with Anna at our creative consultation I knew I was hearing the voice of a kindred soul. There was something in her voice - a tone of rest shimmering with gold threads of wisdom. She is an old soul, and yet still in that brimming stage mothers are in the early years - raising her people to belong to the garden, to the sun.
We decided not to photograph her maternity session in Boone this time, as she needed to stay close to her family in Charlotte. So we chose a spot I'd never explored, a park named Jetton park near Charlotte NC. Before she arrived I meandered the park - the old pines sang warmth into the forest floor, those little spots of golden light peeping through. The lake the park surrounds was slate blue, lapping onto clay shores. The beach was packed with large families dipping their toes, having a picnic, chaotic magic. I worried it wasn't a private enough place for us, and true enough I came across another photography session in the spot I had eyed by the water. But people just meandered around each other, and by the time I found Anna patiently waiting for me I had found some quiet pockets of earth to explore.
We took our time for Anna's Threshold Photography Session. Anna's Threshold was holding this baby within, the changing of her body, the growing of her own self. She talked about how she hadn't done photography portraits with her other pregnancies and being that this is likely the last baby, she wanted to mark this moment. She wanted to celebrate not only the child in her belly, but to really see herself as a pregnant woman. She was so deeply reflective of how she sees herself, and that contemplative nature just glowed in the portraiture.
While we waited for the other photographer to move away from that magic place by the water, we talked about books. We gave each other lists to read: Circe, The Silence of the Girls, Braiding Sweetgrass, The Master and Margarita. I think, quite honestly, that I fall just a wee bit in love with every human I photograph. Anna's calm nature, her love for the earth and her introspection gave me a sense of being quite at home in my own self. I felt a mirror being reflected, and as I photographed her caressing her belly I remembered what that felt like. To hold my children -unknown but known - in the center of my being, a part of me but yet not me. It's unlike anything else in this world.
At the end of our session Anna gifted me with lavender from her garden and traditional Russian cake from her husband's culture. This time together was full of gifts, and a deep reminder to me that I am exactly where I need to be - being present with people, reflecting their beauty as they are.
