On Birth and Storytelling

 

Since I got back, I have been shooting some births. I had done it before going to journalism school. But upon my return after all that training and professional experience, my take on the whole thing inevitably has changed.

This is not a journalistic assignment. There are certain shots I am expected to provide. When you shoot a bunch of them in a short period of time, this whole process becomes pretty mechanical, almost making one numb to the idea of a new person coming into life. I try to remind myself how important what I witness is and how luck I am to be there and document it.

I also keep asking myself how to better tell their stories. Every time being a new opportunity to practice this particular kind of storytelling, I am trying to find better frames, better light, dig out more intimate stories.

I quite enjoy this particular photograph. It depicts a young couple who just birthed their first child into this wild world. It might not be the most original frame, but it does tell the story of these three people, their immediate connection, the strong bond being formed among them. There is an emotional moment that this new mother  is intensely experiencing. The father is trying to document it from his own perspective while trying to be there for this life changing moment itself. It is a storytelling photograph. That's what is important. Rest is the details.

Thanks for looking!