Motherhood

“The heart of the person before you is a mirror. See there your own form.” 
-Shinto Saying

Over the past year I’ve made it a goal to sift back through 1000s of photos from the past 7+ years, images that span 3 continents, over 21 countries and countless cultures and people. I began with old assignments from WKU, projects from 3 newspapers, then jumped to South Korea, SE Asia and finally Africa. During this process, I began to recognize images that felt similar to me, the gesture of the hand throw back in a moment of abundant joy is identical in a young American girl as it is in novice Buddhist monk in Thailand. I’ve sat in silence with wise women watching the world go by from the comfort of their front porch in a remote Karen Hill Tribe in Northern Thailand with Mamma Mo’s work roughened hand holding mine and in the Appalachian region of Eastern Kentucky with Aunt Susie silently nodding off. Kind, strong women with the lines of hardship and joy etched into their faces. I also began to see amusing and sometimes disturbing juxtaposition of every day life; jobs, expectations of motherhood and the expression of love. 

Over the next few weeks I’m going to post the best of these, combining images from all over the world into diptychs that begin to contextualize individual lives into a universal tapestry. 

I hope you enjoy! 

(Left) A Young Nepali mother at Boudhanath Stupa, Kathmandu, Nepal.
(Right) Jeane, 2, and her mother, Deanne York prepare for the Cordell Hull Festival Pageant in Byrdstown Tenn.