AWARDS 2022 Sep 2022

Title: Mother's Milk

"‘Mother’s Milk’ was created to highlight and raise awareness of Postnatal Depression, a very sad and lonely time for sufferers which I witnessed first hand through my wife after the birth of our first born 15 years ago.

This shot was inspired by the dreamlike delirium my wife suffered from the lack of sleep mixed with the overwhelming feelings of love that she was experiencing. She was engulfed with the constant fear for our baby's safety and her new found responsibility. At the tender aged of 24 the unplanned arrival was life changing, for a while she lost herself, physically, emotionally and mentally. She was so young and inexperienced that family and friends would bombard her with advice, some of which would fight against her motherly instinct. That time was a real marathon of emotions for her. We both felt overwhelmed at times but ecstatic with the arrival of our tiny son.

Recently we had some friends come to stay, one of them was Scarlet who features in this picture. For most of the day her baby Gabriel was on the boob, relentlessly feeding. Despite Scarlet’s carefree spirit she was exhausted, she looked at me through a weak smile and asked ‘when will it end’.

The very next day I woke up still connected to the feeling of what Scarlet was going through, she was ok, but not ok. She was battling love, exhaustion and loss of self. She’s a personal trainer and has the body of an athlete, so the change in appearance and lack of energy must have been so alienating for her.

I called Scarlet and asked if she would sit in a fridge full of milk whilst breast feeding her son. "Of course" was her emphatic response. I knew I had the perfect mother and child to help tell this story.

This picture has so many little details within, I hope that some of you can connect with it. It was a joy to make."