Motherhood
by Meghan Murray
What is this about?
My documentary piece is about motherhood. The good, the bad, the ugly. I wanted to capture the essence of motherhood in its raw, real, and truest forms. While rewarding, being a parent can be emotionally and physically draining. I think I communicated this well in my series of images.
Why did I chose Motherhood as my topic?
I chose Motherhood as my topic as my family recently welcomed a new addition. My sister gave birth to my sweet nephew just shy of 6 months ago. It has been so amazing watching her transition into being a mother, and has really opened my eyes about a lot of things parenting related. I been witness to some incredibly happy and exciting moments but have also been there to see some deeply challenging moments too.
In this series I wanted to showcase how babies can be so happy one moment and so upset the next. This greatly showcases how difficult motherhood, or parenthood, can be. Because just when you think you have things figured out, your baby can become upset in the blink of an eye and you have to solve yet another problem.
What did I learn during this assignment?
I'm not sure I would say I necessarily "learned" anything during this assignment, however I do feel like my eyes really opened on some aspects while reflecting on these images. For example, I have truly never thought of how your brain always has be switched on as a parent.
While following my sister for the day I watched her come up with multiple possibilities for the reason of my nephew crying. 'Is he tired", "Is he hungry", "Is he too hot/ cold", "Does he want to move around", "Does he want to be cuddled", "Does he need a diaper change", "Does he have gas", "Is he teething", the list goes on. I really have never thought about everything that has to constantly be going through a parents head. I feel that having this new perspective on things allows me to appreciate my sister even more than I did before in her journey of Motherhood.
