When Maja met Lenny ~ A Birth Story

This is a brief day in the life / birth story.

I spent 12 hours with Agata & Robert; I started at their home where they spent the morning with their daughter Maja before heading off to the hospital for the caesarean section birth of their new son, Lenny.

Please note, there are stills from the real life birth in this film.  I think they are beautiful, but you may not want to watch when eating dinner.

As a family documentary photographer, I don't think there is any more precious a moment to capture than the start of a new life.

I've been photographing Maja since her birth and I hope to continue the story now that Lenny is here.
This photo story starts with Maja and ends with Maja & Lenny.

I know from the connection between my own children how important they will be to each other, for the rest of their lives.

All photographs taken with Fujifilm X-Pro2 & X-T2 with XF23mm F2 and XF50mm F2 Lenses.  The F2 lenses were my obvious choice for this assignment.  Smaller, and quicker, than their 1.4 and 1.2 siblings (siblings....see what I did there?)

I absolutely and firmly believe that I would not have been given permission for this shoot, nor been comfortable shooting this, with a larger (and louder) DSLR system.

That doesn't mean I couldn't have done it of course.  There are many great examples of birth photography out there using other equipment than Mirrorless.

However, for me at least, using the electronic shutter and remaining 100% silent during this, the most precious of times.....the start of a life, was paramount.

You can see a bit more of my family photography, and more photo films from this series in fact (including Maja's birth story) on my website.

I hope you enjoy this short Photofilm.  It's best watched full screen and with audio enabled: