A mom sits skin-to-skin with her toddler during a professional photosession celebrating motherhood at home in Raleigh, NC.

There is a moment in motherhood when a woman realizes she has not simply added a child to her life. She has become someone new.

This is matrescence.

Not the curated version. Not the “bounce back” narrative. The real, cellular, identity-level transformation that happens when a woman reshapes her body, her brain, her heart, and her entire life in service of a child who once existed only inside her.

Rachel is living inside that becoming.

When we made these images, her daughter Swain was about a year and a half old. Still soft-limbed. Still wobbling between babyhood and independence. Now she is two, but you can already see the roots of their relationship here. The trust. The respect. The deep attunement that does not happen by accident.

For many years, Rachel and her husband were unsure if they even wanted children. They had a full life. A good life. She poured her heart into teaching middle school, even through the peak of the pandemic, showing up for her students long after burnout would have been justified. People often assume that women like Rachel will become stay-at-home mothers if they ever have children. And when she did, that is exactly what happened.

Not because she disappeared into motherhood, but because she entered it fully.

Rachel does not give half of herself. She parents with intention, with respect, with boundaries and creativity. She lets Swain explore. She lets her be messy. She models regulation, curiosity, gentleness. And knowing the generations that came before her, including a mother who worked hard to break a cycle of abuse, watching Rachel continue that healing is nothing short of witnessing love being passed forward.

This is what The Mothermark Sessions exist to honor.

A mom and her toddler look out the window during a professional motherhood photography session in Raleigh.

Black and white detail shot of a toddler's feet on mother's bare legs, captured at home in Raleigh, North Carolina during a motherhood photo session.

A mom leans back against a bedroom wall while her toddler throws books, captured during a motherhood session in Raleigh to show the chaos that comes with motherhood.

Toddler cries while mom holds her during a professional motherhood photoshoot at home in Raleigh, NC.

A different way of being photographed

Lifestyle family sessions are about connection. They capture the beauty of relationships and the truth of a family as they are.

Mothermark Sessions are different.

They are built in partnership with the mother. We design the session around her story. Not just what motherhood looks like in her home, but what it feels like inside her body. The devotion. The exhaustion. The awe. The way time collapses when your child rests their weight into your chest.

These images are not about performance. They are about presence.

Reverence was the dominant emotion I felt photographing Rachel. Reverence, joy, awe. The kind that makes you realize you are standing inside someone’s sacred story.

The moment I knew

We stepped outside for one part of the session, and I gave Rachel direction to stand the way ancient Greek sculptures do. Rooted. Open. Unapologetically strong. I wanted to show the world the truth of her body. Not before. Not after. In motherhood.

A new mother shows off the way her body has become more beautiful and strong since having a baby, captured during a professional motherhood photo session in Raleigh, NC.

So many women flinch at the idea of being seen like that.

Rachel did not.

She trusted me. That trust is not something I will ever take lightly.

When she received her gallery later, she wrote back about those images and said,
“Look at those beautiful, strong bodies.”

I cried.

Because that is matrescence. That is a woman seeing herself not as diminished by motherhood, but transformed by it.

Why this work matters

Women do not become mothers by accident. We change our entire selves. Our chemistry. Our shape. Our priorities. Our identities. Because we feel called to care for the little people our bodies once carried into existence.

This is not a side chapter of life.

It is an evolution.

The Matrescence Project exists to give that evolution a visual language.
The Mothermark Sessions exist to give mothers a way to witness it in themselves.

To see their strength.
Their devotion.
Their becoming.

Not someday.

Now.

Mom hugs her toddler in the bath during a professional photoshoot celebrating motherhood in Raleigh, NC.

Mom lays on the floor with toddler to highlight the energy spent raising babies, captured during a professional photo session celebrating motherhood in Raleigh.

Raleigh mom showers with her toddler during a professional motherhood session captured at home.

Toddler sits on edge of a kitchen sink with a mug featuring her great grandparents in the background, captured during a professional motherhood photoshoot in Raleigh.

Ready to witness your own becoming?

If you feel something stirring as you read this, it might be because your story is asking to be seen too.

The Mothermark Sessions are for women who want to honor the transformation motherhood has shaped inside their bodies, their relationships, and their lives. Not the polished version. The real one. If you feel something stirring as you read this, it might be because your story is asking to be seen too. Please reach out, I’d be honored to work with you.