Sasha - Expecting Mother
every now and then, something happens in our lives that gives us pause, makes us shake our heads and say, “Wow!”
this past week was one of those times.
let me take you back a bit. when i lived in nyc i met a young woman by the name of sasha. she is a very dear girlfriend of my wife karen. i photographed sasha and karen 14 yrs. ago, on the roof top of my 5 story walk-up apartment right smack in the heart of manhattan, and soon thereafter saw an endearing quality between karen and sasha that, to this day, brings me great joy to be around. several years went by and i receive a phone call from sasha announcing her engagement and that she wanted me to photograph her destination wedding on the island of st. barths. i was honored. sasha's wedding was absolutely beautiful. to date, one of a handful of my most influential photographs to shape my photography was sasha's portrait. from the very moment i heard the release of the shutter i knew our photography would never be the same.
flash forward 3 years to the present. a few months ago karen and i received a phone call from sasha announcing that her and her husband were expecting their first child due in late janurary '09. now the question was whether or not we were going to photograph her here in la or in chicago. time got away from us so we decided to fly out to chicago to photograph sasha and mark in their home.
the results are a combination of talents both in-house and emulating one of my all-time favorite photographers, annie leibovitz.
annie leibovitz photographed john lennon in december 1980, again, one of a handful of my most influential photographs to shape my photography, the portrait of himself embracing yoko ono that graced the cover of the janurary 1981 issue of rolling stone. annie leibovitz acknowledged that she wanted to emulate "the kiss" from the cover of double fantasy album. this is where the vision stemmed from and turned into a session not to be forgotten.
the beauty that comes from within can not be more evident than when a woman is loved, in love and bearing love. sasha has all of these traits. the girlish laugh that comes from her belly when she laughs to the confidence that she is surrounded by those who love her and the comfort that she displays in the arms of her husband is both inspiring and enjoyable to be around.
finally, "coming full circle" has been the story of sasha and her beauty. when sasha announced she was expecting karen immediately began thinking of how her vision was to come to fruition. she wanted to have an image that told a story of yesterday to today.
the above image is karen's mind at play. the effort that came from this one photograph would make your heart beat a bit faster. all that is needed to be told is that when karen and i put our heads together wonderful story telling happens and...
every now and then, something happens in our lives that gives us pause, makes us shake our heads and say, “Wow!”
this past week was one of those times.
we love you sasha and mark and can not wait to welcome caden with open arms!
p.s. no way we were leaving chicago without stopping in to take in a favorite past-time of 2.5 million people... the famous "chicago dog" yummy, yummy! oh, did i mention that it was 16˚ outside!
