Mother, Meet My Maker

Looking for an image of my mother has always been difficult, similar to looking for a needle in a hay stack. Even in my youth, I remember searching high and low for a picture of her, as I knew her, to fill a frame I received from my grandmother. The only image I had was from her high school senior portraits taken before I was even thought of, and this young lady in the portraits I did not know. She was my mother of course, but everything about her, from her hair, her makeup, even her dress was not the woman I knew.

After graduating college, I made it a point for my mother and I to take selfies whenever we saw each other, since lived about an eight hour drive apart. Even then, it was a task, as I just wanted to enjoy her in all her glory. She’s a mom, and my mom at that!

Now, as a mother myself, I can understand not only how she is absent is so many pictures, but I understand the why. It’s easy to get lost in the moment. It’s easy to give your attention to others, especially your children. It’s easy to shy away from the camera because you may not feel like you “deserve” to be in the picture because you don’t feel like you look the part, or heck, you may not even feel like it. The thing is, no child, or adult for that matter, should have to shovel through pictures or images just to find the one person that means the most to them. And no mother should neglect herself or her existence in her children’s lives by being absent in every picture. Mothers need more pictures. Mothers should exist in pictures. With AND without their children and significant others.

My mother is one of the most beautiful souls I have ever encountered and I am so happy to have captured her and all the beauty she possesses, inside in out. I’m so she enjoyed the amazing experience of being photographed like the wonder she is.