Azahara

Not long ago I read somewhere that if you never felt the rush of being chased by your sibling trying to stab you with a fork you did not have a proper childhood (or something like that). Funnily enough this one sister did stab me with a fork once. Other than that shameful episode, I have so much to thank my sisters for. For loving my children as much as I do, for being there for me ALWAYS, for giving me the pleasure of intelligent (and sometimes silly) conversations amongst all the superhero and monster talk that goes on in this all-male household. Making them feel pretty and documenting who they are is such a small thing to do for them compared to everything they do for me.

No hace mucho leí en algún sitio que si nunca sentiste la adrenalina de ser perseguido por tu hermano intentando apuñalarte con un tenedor es que no tuviste una infancia completa  (o algo así). Curiosamente, esta hermana una vez realmente me clavó un tenedor. A parte de ese episodio vergonzoso, tengo mucho que agradecer a mis hermanas. Que quieran a mis hijos tanto como los quiero yo, que estén ahí SIEMPRE que las necesito, que me den el placer tener conversaciones inteligentes (o a veces de decir tonterías) entre tanta conversación sobre superhéroes y monstuos que hay en esta casa llena de niños. Conseguir que se sientan guapas y documentar quienes son es muy poco comparado con lo que hacen ellas por mí.  

Steve & Kaili

Verano - Summer

Lleno de promesas, de posibilidades, de pequeños placeres como dormir siestas, comer helados y sumerger los pies en agua fría en un día de calor. ¡Cuánto te he hechado de menos, querido verano! 

Full of promises, possibilities and small pleasures like having siestas, eating ice-creams and dipping your feet in cold water on a hot day. I have missed you so much, dear summer!

Fotografiar familias es siempre un honor, sobretodo cuando comparten mis ideas para la sesión. Como fotógrafa, el reto está en saber encontrar esos hilos invisibles que nos unen con nuestros seres queridos y que sólo aparecen cuando nos sentimos cómodos y bajamos la guardia ante el mundo exterior.  Como madre que soy, sé que ninguno de esos hilos es tan fuerte como el que nos une a nuestros hijos.  Esta preciosa hada del bosque y su madre son el ejemplo perfecto.

To photograph families is always an honour, even more so when they share my vision for the sesion. As a photographer the challenge is to find those invisible threads that join us to the people we love and that only appear when we feel comfortable and let our guard down. As a mother myself, I know that none of those threads is as strong as the ones that join us to our children. This gorgeous flower fairy and her mum are the perfect example. 

This boy.

I don't remember life before this boy.

This boy gave me my first labour pains, my first sleepless nights, my first feeling of complete pure happiness. Because of this boy I learned what it is like to LOVE without expecting anything in return, not even to be loved back. 

I felt for the first time the terrifying responsability of holding somebody else's whole life in my hands.
I learned to appreciate every single cuddle, to cherish every single smile.

 Six years ago I became a different person. I became a mother. And it was all because of this boy.

Advanced pro - 4th week assignment

Ok, bare with me 'cause this is a little longer that usual!.

This was a funny assignment for me. I started with a set idea and it sort of changed half way through the shoot. Let me explain. My oldest and deepest obsession is the passage of time, even when i was little i used to get really upset about thinking how we all get old and when we die and all the people that knew us die as well, it's as if we had never existed. Very cheerful stuff, I know! I guess I was a bit of an Adams family kid! 

Anyway, I thought that it would be interesting to see if I could  somehow express this obsession through photography. I went to my grandparents' house. My grandmother died a few years ago and since then, it's as if time had stop in their house. 

This is my beloved grandad. He has Alzeimer's. He can't talk or move much anymore. For the last six years we have been slowly loosing him. I thought he would be the perfect subject for my assignment. The passage of time, an illness that makes you forget about that time that has passed, the man he used to be staring at him from the picture on the wall... So I started taking pictures.

But something happened while i was taking them. Someone walked in the room and his face suddenly changed. This is Mari. She is the lady that helps take care of my grandad when my mother and her siblings are at work.  She feeds him, bathes him, takes care of him and, most importantly, gives him joy and affection. She left her own family in Bolivia to come to Europe to work and be able to send a little money back home. Thousands of women like her travel half way round the world to take care of our elderly or our children as if they were their own. Yes, it is her job, but it's a hard job and she does it with a smile and, best of all, puts a smile in my grandad's face. And for that she is my inspiration.  

Advanced pro - 3rd week assignment

These are two sisters and the daughter of one of them. I did what Brooke said and posed them first and then started the interaction. I used some of the "invites" and got them to wisper what they liked about the other person in her ear and played the "if she was a colour..." game. I also talked to the mum about how fast her daughter has grown and that she'll soon be a little woman, resulting in the photo where she's looking down at her.

I found that it was very hard for them to relax and show their true self in front of a camera to start off with, even with the interaction, they sort of tried to stop themselves from laughing because they were worried about how they looked. So I got a little frustrated in the beginning of the session (obviously I did not show it!) , however I think that just talking about these feelings (both amongst them, like in the wispering, or by me talking to them) they sort of changed their demeanor after a bit, even though they didn't seem to realize.When I just put these feelings and thoughts in their mind suddenly the camera was not the most important thing in their brain anymore.

 I don't feel like I have even near mastered the interaction part of this course but I have definitely seen a little light at the end of the tunnel and I can't wait to explore this a lot more. Exciting!