A photographer mum has created a series of photos to document the crazy and chaotic, yet beautiful, reality of life as a mother.
Giedre Gomes, 35, from Indiana, US, has two sons aged three and five. She and wanted to create a photo series showing what it’s really like to be a mum, as she was fed up of seeing stylised shots of “picture perfect” families that she couldn’t identify with.
“I wanted to show real life, reality and routine, when every single day is the same,” she told HuffPost UK. “Breakfast, lunch, dinner, cooking, cleaning, dishes, laundry, driving and shopping. Every single day. The same thing over and over. I wanted to show pictures that mums can relate to.”
Gomes put out an advert on her Facebook page asking local mums to take part in the shoot and managed to get some friends and neighbours involved too. She wanted to make sure she was able to include everything she has gone through, or is still going through, as a mother.
“I can finally take a shower alone, but most of the time my three-year-old still sits on the toilet and waits for me to be done, keeps me company,” she said. “I want to show that stay-at-home mums don’t sleep all day. It’s hard work.”
Gomes said she “absolutely loves” being a mum, but it’s “not always all rainbows and butterflies”. She added: “Motherhood is no longer having privacy, never peeing or showering in peace. Motherhood is using your shirt to wipe runny noses and dirty faces. Motherhood is learning how to do everything with one hand while carrying a baby in another.
“But in the end, I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
Scroll down to see some of the motherhood moments she captured: