When a photoshoot is much more than just that
When I put a model call out looking for a pregnant woman for a photoshoot to flex my creative muscle, I didn’t really have a plan in mind. All I knew was, I had a creative itch and it needed to be scratched.
I was overwhelmed with responses from women looking to have this special time in their story captured to keep forever.
And so, I ran with it. It became a group maternity session with 16 women who were strangers to one another. They came together at my studio space in Geelong with open minds and open hearts.
Creatively, I now had a general idea about what I wanted to capture, but I felt like I was just the facilitator of a bigger plan here in someway. And I was.
What I didn’t realise would happen was that the photography part of this photoshoot - even though we were shooting for two hours - was the least important part of the day.
The most important part of the day turned out to be about these women finding a community amongst each other. They arrived ready to be vulnerable and brave despite not knowing each other at all, and yet this gathering turned them into friends. Each bound together by this journey of motherhood.
I was left with requests to connect them outside of the session and thanks for the bringing together of women who just… got each other.
There’s something magical about what happens when you open yourself up to new experiences, and this, was magic.
-MELINA x
