As a family fine art portrait photographer, one thing I love most about photographing my London clients is learning more about them. Getting a glimpse into their lives, a sense of what kind of parents, and people, they may be. It is a little like peaking in form a dark street through a window into a well-lit family kitchen. I can’t see the whole house, or the whole day this family had. Only a small frame in time and space. But that one frame is so interesting and inspiring!
Here is one such a frame, a window into a life of one of my clients (turned friend!)
“The thing I’m learning about parenting is that it’s completely unpredictable.
Battling through the unexpected tidal wave of post-natal depression, after a long journey to get pregnant and then life-threatening delivery.
Or the unnecessary pressures that culture places on me to provide every experience possible for our child.
Or the fear of my failure as a mother or something happening to my girl.
Parenting is completely unpredictable. And being that I crave organisation is all areas of my life, being a mother forces me to think differently. We are all uniquely different.
Can we figure out parenting solely through reading books or seeking advice from those we trust? Although I value what I can learn through those means, one cannot learn everything about raising a human being through that alone. It takes time, patience and resilience.
Through becoming a parent I’ve discovered more of myself then I ever thought possible and how I desire to be a better person. I want to be what I am teaching to my daughter. I never thought parenting would provide me with a second chance to take a deeper look at myself, to change and grow.
Parenting is a gift. I am reminded of the many stages of development I had to learn in order to become a functioning adult. The innocence of a child and ability to call it out like they see it. I can’t hide behind the smoke screen I’ve built up in my adult life. Instead, I am invited into participating in someone’s life, watching them grow, change and develop over the years; it is a true privilege.
I want the very best for Zahrya, but how can I give her my best if I don’t try and take the opportunities to make myself better too? Parenting has become a two-way street of giving and receiving: learning together; laughing together; fighting together; explaining a lot; being as honest as I can and letting her know I will ALWAYS have her back. She can never lose my love.
And here I thought parenting was all about rules and making sure she learns how to find her way in society, I couldn’t have been more wrong.
Parenting is completely unpredictable.”