For a long time, I thought I photographed maternity.
But over the years, I started realizing that what I’m actually drawn to has very little to do with pregnancy itself.
It’s the shift that happens in women during these moments in life.
Pregnancy changes you.
Motherhood changes you.
Getting older changes you.
Starting over changes you.
Even learning how to see yourself again after years of putting everyone else first changes you.
I think a lot of women move through these parts of life without ever really feeling seen in them.
They’re usually the ones taking the photos. Remembering everything. Holding everything together for everyone else.
And somewhere in the middle of all of that, they slowly disappear from the frame.
That’s one of the reasons this work matters so much to me.
Not because I care about perfection.
Not because I think every woman needs a luxury photo session.
But because I know what it feels like to look in the mirror and feel disconnected from yourself. I know what it feels like to change and not fully recognize the person staring back at you yet.
I see that in so many women who walk into my studio.
A lot of them tell me they almost didn’t book the session. They don’t feel photogenic. They want to lose weight first. They’re exhausted. They don’t feel like themselves anymore.
And then something shifts.
Not because I magically transform them.
Not because of hair and makeup or dresses or posing.
I think sometimes women just need the opportunity to be looked at with softness for once.
To exist in a photograph without immediately criticizing themselves.
To see that they are still there.
Years from now, these photographs will matter to their children and families in ways they probably can’t imagine yet.
But I also think they matter right now.
I think there is something powerful about documenting yourself while you are still becoming.
Not after everything feels perfect.
Not after you “have yourself back.”
Now.
That’s the work I want to keep creating.
Not just photographs of motherhood.
Photographs of women finding themselves inside changing lives.
If this feels like where you are right now, I would love to photograph you in it.
You can view my sessions and inquire through Ashley Lopez Photography
