Photos, Interviews, and Poetry Exploring Mothering

A New Collaboration: Photos + Poetry!

There are those tender moments holding your child, singing a song, delighting in their experience of life. There are those moments of trying to get a baby to stop crying while your other child begs you to guess which Pokemon character they are thinking of with increasing desperation and volume. Motherhood is full of contradictions. The pandemic only compounded the isolation that mothering brings.

Through the magic of Instagram and friends I found Michelle Bengson, a talented poet and honest mother. She writes poems that are beautiful and raw and perfectly encompass motherhood. As we doled out admiration for each other, we knew we had to collaborate. And so this project was born.

Through interviews, photographs, and poetry we intend to use our art to replace the isolation of mothering with connection. We will peel back the facades and address all the contradictions tucked inside our hearts and homes.

Michelle explains so beautifully what we try to do with our art:

“To pull back the curtains and give an intimate window into the true inner workings of a home.
Into the domestic. Into the motherhood.
Into the real and relatable and everyday drama and romanticism of the kitchen table, the floor mat, the bedroom, the yard.”

We hope to feature new women every month and use their stories to inspire photography and poetry and, of course, this community. I can't wait to share our first feature with you!

Our First Feature: Meet Kelli

Kelli welcomed Sam, her third child, into her family during the pandemic. She was so utterly isolated that I still marvel how she pushed through year one of infancy with her husband and three kids under 5. I am going to share a snippet of her motherhood interview (more to follow) and the photos and poem about her experience.

One thing that Kelli told us was “Before Sam was born the kids and I would go on outdoor adventures most days of the week. I wasn’t sure how I would manage with all three, but Sam lights up when his siblings are talking or singing to him and they love making him smile. At the same time, with a newborn, 3yr old, and 5yr old, we definitely have our moments. The hardest part of having a third child for me is feeling like I’m spread really thin. Lately, John and Sylvie have been asking for “alone time with Mommy”, which is hard given that most of the time I am alone with all three of them. I try my best to fit it in when I can. I have been putting them to bed lately so we can have 10-15 min of cuddling and talking at the end of the day.  Reading and snuggling with them in bed at night always brings us back together no matter how tough the day was. I love it, but I’m exhausted at the end of the day and I don’t have much time with my husband or for myself.” This quote of hers went on to inspire Michelle’s poem “Mom Moments.”

Let us know what other things you want answered about motherhood and how YOU feel right now about the contradictions layered in every mom moment.