In her debut book Mère, we see the artist Julie Scheurweghs in different stages of labour.
Scheurweghs' natural home birth took 16 hours, and while being by her side, the whole process was closely documented by her partner. Later, while going through the photographs Scheurweghs noticed the details that accurately matched her recollections from the day.
She claimed the photographs by cropping them to their bare essence, creating a new body of work showing the intensity of the experience. The skin-close, uncensored and heartfelt photographs of heavy contractions alternated with calm moments in between show us not only a baby being born, but the birth of a mother as well.
Diane Smyth in conversation with Julie Scheurweghs on 1854 blog
