An Ode to the Afterbelly

An Ode is a lyrical tribute. In this case thousands of lyrics expressed from “life-giving” women from all over the world. Thousands of words worth thousands of pictures. Presented here, only a selection are represented to pay an overdue tribute to the beautiful reality of motherhood. I created this labor of love simply as a tribute to my wife and her creation of our two beautiful sons. The project began with a modest local Mother’s Day gallery showing of the first 10-15 subjects and it took off from there by word of mouth one subject to the next. I was determined to capture as many stories (lyrics) from as many diverse individuals as possible in order to represent a more expansive global take on this subject. The only rule was that each subject was in complete control of what they wanted to portray in their photos and all would be shot spontaneously after the video interview with only natural light and readily available locations and added props. This endeavor encompassed 3 years of interviewing, filming and photographing over 125 women who through the process were able to vent, rant, rave, and ultimately honor their way through personal experiences of the body altering process of pregnancy, birth, the “Afterbelly” and then beyond.