Yesterday, I opened up hard drives from the past 22 years—and found some of the most beautiful stories I’ve ever had the honor to document.
Baby Births.
I know what some of you are thinking: “Ew.”
But let me assure you—my birthing photography isn’t about the nether regions.
It’s about the moments.
A father caring for a mother.
A child patiently (or impatiently) waiting for their sibling to arrive.
The day turning into night with family anticipation.
But above all, a new mother holding her newborn for the very first time.
As I looked through the images yesterday, I cried.
These moments that I was invited into… they remind me of the best parts of humanity.
They linger with me as some of the most impactful work I’ve ever produced—not because of skill or technical ability, but because of truth, emotion, and love.
There are stories behind every photo—and behind those stories, even more.
I realized yesterday that the very first birth I photographed was in July of 2009.
That baby will turn sixteen this year.
And I wonder—without these photographs, would he know what his grandmother’s face looked like the first time she saw him?
Would he know how many people gathered to welcome him?
Or how they circled him in prayer?
That’s the magic of this work.
While reviewing two birth stories I’d photographed for the same family—years apart—I noticed a laptop open in the delivery room during the second birth.
On the screen was one of my photos: their firstborn, now a toddler, dressed in vintage attire from one of our playful sessions.
I had photographed his birth, too.
And now, years later, he was present—watching over his new sibling’s arrival in his own way.
That moment hit me like a wave.
Not just because of the photo, but because of what it represented:
A family that invited me in again. A story I was trusted to keep telling.
That’s the kind of full circle that makes this work matter.
There are so many moments like that tucked inside these archives.
So many little flashes of humanity.
So much tenderness.
So much awe.
I don’t always have the words to explain what it feels like to be behind the camera during a birth.
But maybe you’ll feel it in the images.
And maybe—just maybe—you’ll see the beauty I was lucky enough to witness.
