Seeing As A Mother: Capturing Childhood
- Gözde Efe
- Apr 14, 2025
- 3 min read
Updated: Apr 21, 2025
12 Months, Meets Monthly in Inspiring Spaces, Exhibits, Includes All Equipment, Cameras, Darkroom and Printing
Our hope with this program is to gently guide cohorts of mothers in telling their own stories of motherhood and childhood—through the language of photography. While we’ve shaped a path, a structure to hold the experience, we know that each group’s journey will unfold in its own way. What we’re really after are the unexpected ways of seeing—the unspoken, the unthought, the quietly extraordinary.
There is magic in the freedom this process offers. In play. In flipping perspectives upside down and looking again. What emerges, in the end, is not just a body of work, but a visual chronicle—a reflection of motherhood through the eyes of each mother. Something lasting. Something made for her, and for her children to one day see themselves through her gaze.
Asako Shimazaki, captured a decade of her son Marcus' life, starting from his birth on September 10, 1997, to his tenth birthday on September 9, 2007. Marcus' single digits serves as both a record of growth and a celebration of cherished moments shared between a mother and her son.
We will guide you through creating a series that will serve as an emotional chronicle of motherhood and childhood that portray the deep bonds between mother and child, resonating with the experiences of countless parents.
Capture The Essence of Your Children Growing Up
Capture the essence of your little one's growing up, reflecting their evolving perspectives as they transition.
Aesthetic of Childhood
You will use your mother eye for detail and creativity to create stunning portraits. Whether it’s a close-up of your little one discovering a new toy or a wider shot of a family picnic at the local park, you will grow within yourself in portraying moments that seem ordinary yet hold deep significance.
Share The Emotional Landscape of Motherhood
The relationship between a mother and her child evolves over the years, and photographs you make yourself from your own perspective will reflect this growth. From tender moments of babyhood to instances of newfound independence, your photos will show the wide-ranging emotions experienced as your little one matures.
Document Milestones and Memories
Every year is filled with milestones, and you will capture distinct phases of your children's development. From their lively first birthday party attended by 20 friends to their outgoing nature in preschool, each photograph you make will tell a chapter in their shared story.
We will guide you in highlighting cultural nuances, showcasing how you would integrate your own heritage into your children' life. Your documentations will reflect the fusion of traditions that enhance their experiences, bridging two worlds.
You will work on combining your little ones' childhood traditions with your cultural background through photography.
Capture the Ordinary and Extraordinary
Some images not only document childhood chores but also reflect the music of small interactions that emphasize the joys of parent-child relationships : ) You will work on those.
Leave A Timeless Legacy
Our goal with this program is to guide you through creating a series that'd serve as an emotional chronicle of motherhood and childhood that portray the deep bonds between mother and chid, resonating with the experiences of countless parents.
Your collection will become cherished family heirloom, an artifact for your children to reflect upon as they navigate through life.
Share A Heartfelt Reflection
As your child would enter new chapters in life, the memories within your series will remain a lasting reminder of the beauty of their early life. They are captured not only through your camera but also through the nurturing love of a mother witnessing her child's journey.
May this story motivate parents everywhere to authentically document their children’s lives, celebrating the uniqueness of childhood and creating a lasting legacy of treasured memories.
Faculty: Gozde Efe (conception, storytelling and digital photography), Asako Shimazaki (film photography and photography development).
