Quale Madre

There is no way to know in advance how having children will be like, so when I found out I was pregnant I didn’t know what to expect.

The day my son was born I was born for a second time. I had to learn everything from scratch in an exhausting trial and error process that made me feel uncomfortable with the idea of innate motherhood that we consume: "How can something so miraculous be so disruptive?”, “Why I'm so scared of 7:00 pm?”, and “Why, alongside with 'Enjoy this moment' , didn’t people mention anything about feeling overwhelmed?” were some of the questions I was wondering about most of the time.

'Quale Madre' is the tale of my inner journey to become a mother, my re-birth and the emotional experience I went through during the early stages of motherhood, in a constant dialogue with myself and a world still unknown. A necessary, urgent and healing work to chase for a new identity both as a mother and as a photographer.

However, far from being a maternity diary, the project speaks the language of emotions, exploring my intimate universe as a newborn mother with my camera working as a therapist during such an awkward stage as the postpartum period which I compared to a second childhood.

The narrative offers more questions than answers as beyond the stereotypes, the outcome mostly depends on how you manage to coexist with our feelings to bear the burden of an overwhelming love.

www.ilariagioia.it

@mama_documentaria