There is one thing about me that you may find surprising given my focus and specialty on birth photography.
I don’t have children… yet!
My husband Daniel and I have been trying to conceive for 6 years strong. We’ve been through all the testing and have tried everything short of IVF (not so budget friendly when in grad school) . Only this summer in 2012 did we receive some answers and are now working towards getting things taken care of and really praying it works. We are active with an adoption agency and you just never know what God has in store for us. For three years I focused my photography on young families and had great response and success within my expectations. But there was a hole, a longing, something that just wasn’t completely fulfilling. I believe that God has blessed me with this talent and I also believe that there was something MORE that I was to be doing otherwise I wouldn’t be left feeling so… unfulfilled. I quit my full time job with a cancer clinic at the end of 2010 and spent time slowly thinking about the direction I was to take, I’m talking like a nice, slow, simmer. And by slowing down so much to the point of a halt, it was then that I felt something I had always been so drawn to, yet almost afraid of, calling my name.
BIRTH PHOTOGRAPHY.
I said to God, “Seriously? Me? The one who can’t seem to have a baby. You want ME to photograph births? The one thing I want more than anything in the world, the one thing I would do anything for but can’t seem to have?”
And His simple yet profound answer. YES.
I have prayed about this, allowed my vision for my business to take shape completely in His will for my life. By having these experiences and having been on this emotional journey, while I can not completely relate to the physical pain of birth, I am completely in tune and aware of the whirlpool of emotions in the room leading up the birth of a new LIFE. Oh how I celebrate LIFE.
To me, LIFE isn’t about what we look like or what we do, it’s about how we feel. True raw organic emotions that elevate our experiences to a whole new indefinable level. Someone’s birth is one of the few experiences in LIFE where you see those emotions not only on someone’s face but overtake the person as a whole. There’s a new momma who is finally able to embrace this little body and soul whose every kick and movement she has felt inside of her for months. You see a new daddy who feels a new sense of protection and self-sacrifice. And you see a new baby who experiences everything; first breath, first cry, cold, warmth, hunger, separation, bonding, completely dependent on LOVE just to LIVE. Evidence of all these emotions are in the tears, the eyes, the mouth, the outward expressions of inward affection. These are the types of feelings you really can’t describe to others. Right there, in these moments where time stops, is why I live by the passion I have to capture in photographs those true raw organic emotions that help people remember that they felt more than just happy the moment their child entered the world. It doesn’t take long before those feelings start to fade.
This is bigger than your wedding day. This is the biggest moment of your life, your spouse’s life, this is THE MOMENT of your CHILD’S LIFE! Don’t miss out on documenting it because you’re not comfortable with how you feel you look during the birth process. I can tell you that you are never more beautiful than in the very moment your give yourself completely to bring a life into the world. The fresh innocence of your child the moment they take their first breathe, it will never be the same again.
You will never be the same again.
And with every birth that I am blessed to photograph, every time, I am never the same again.
Sometimes you can’t really tell someone what you really mean, you just have to show them.
Please look me up on my fan page on Facebook and feel free to add me as your ‘friend‘ on Facebook as well. I love to connect with people. Love people and show them how beautiful they are, inside and out.
by Jessica Strom