Learning To Speak Bear

 

This is a series of photographs exploring the visual cues and relentless interruptions of motherhood while showing the grit that happens in caring for young children. It seeks to take the viewer through the reality that is everyday life and shed light on the challenges primary caregivers face. Having children is a biological process, becoming a mother is not. Becoming a mother means confronting buried trauma while straddling the first, second and third shifts, juggling physical and emotional needs with financial obligations and often lamenting careers due to high child care costs and poor support. These photographs are an invitation to explore the physical work of the second shift so you can understand the mental load of the third shift. This is motherhood.

 

The invisible workload of mothers isn’t considered into the GDP. It’s also not considered in the everyday, as the little tasks are considered just that: little tasks, and this work is just what parents are supposed to do. While this is true, it doesn’t make the juggling mother any less burdened. Those little tasks are breaks in continuity, they are constant and cloud the mind as women try to keep up in societal demands.