sharing the same blood

less than one month ago happiness has come to our family. my little brother heart and his wife have welcomed this gorgeous baby girl to the world. she will make our world an even more beautiful place to be one day. she has this calming gaze, looking around, observing and enjoying the calm. her mama - my sister in law - is Peruvian, so we are all very excited about how our baby girl will look like as she grows. her hair still seems coal black as mamas, skin bright as my brothers, eyes seem to become dark brown honey. but she looks just like my brother when he was a newborn baby - the most favourite and handsome little fellow in the whole newborn station in the hospital. i can't help - i already picture her as this little girl playing with her pigtails, this beautiful young teenage girl in a skirt, then a young woman, with all these cultural influences and love around her. another daughter of the goddess nature in our family. you should see the look of her eyes..

meet Elea Violetta. my lithuanian german peruvian inca, european latin american niece, already the favourite of her four aunts. i love her to the moon and back.

ps: oh, and now i just HAVE to go to Peru! what a beautiful reasonable need ,-)

Documenting a Baby Belly

the most special thing in the world for me is a woman's pregnancy. as long as i can remember even as a child i was looking with an excitement to a growing baby belly, always wanting to touch it and feel the kicks out of that tiny little universe hidden underneath the skin.

short before leaving for Helgoland in September my friend Jana asked me whether i could take pictures of her growing baby belly. when i came around we drank some tea and did just minimal preparation - found some bed sheets, a simple rope and just walked around the cozy corners of the apartment. this is the result i've been so excited to share, the coziness and simple joy are still felt in those pictures.

documenting a pregnancy or even a birth actually is the most intimate event i can imagine to be shared with others. not many do it, some don't dare, some feel too unpleasant. a pregnant body caries a very special aesthetics with it, the most human aesthetics i would say. i personally think that seeing it brings us closer to understanding the circle of life, brings us down to the most important in this life - which is understanding Love better, understanding how humanity, how nature, how human instincts and behaviour work. bringing us back to family circles and appreciating them with joy. even going further - documenting and sharing pregnancy as well as a birth makes the beginning of life appear less alien, less uncomfortable, it brings us closer to simplicity and to where it all started, to the one little family and love circle.

my next dream is to have the honour to document a natural home style birth. it is important to share stories, impressions, believes, questions and joy just to bring us closer to our own origin.

Thank You Jana for letting me document your beautiful growing baby girl belly.