Rahel and I really enjoyed our time together in a Berlin studio.
Teilnehmer: Model Rahel van der Meer
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Rahel and I really enjoyed our time together in a Berlin studio.
Teilnehmer: Model Rahel van der Meer
The "Carrying" series I created from August 2024 to April 2025, spanning the entire period of pregnancy, and brings together photographic positions on pregnant physicality – raw, calm, and radically visible. In each shot, pregnancy reveals itself not as an idealized cliché, but as a real, physically experienced, intimate, and socially shaped transformation.
The body in these images carries – visibly and invisibly – weight, expectation, responsibility, history, and the future. It carries not only new life, but also signs of power, vulnerability, control, and self-empowerment. The conscious decision for analog black-and-white photography creates a timeless space in which the supposedly private becomes public. The poses range from upright confrontation to quiet inwardness – always with a focus on dignity and self-determination.
The series does not invite us to contemplate "motherhood," but rather to engage with the pregnant body as a political, aesthetic, and emotional site.
My second model shoot took place in my apartment, which was still very minimalistically furnished at the time. My guest was Kriz – a creative, athletic, and lively young woman. She brought great energy, motivation, and her own ideas, which made the collaboration pleasant.
The shoot itself was relaxed and fun.
Some interesting pictures emerged that differ significantly from my current style. I see a certain distinct quality in the series, and I could imagine working with Kriz again.