How does motherhood change a woman? (34 photos)

Motherhood significantly changes a woman's body. But there are also deeper changes affecting character and outlook on the world. Are they reflected in the face, in the gaze? Lithuanian photographer Vaida Markeviciute asked these questions and dedicated her photo project “Becoming a Mother” to him. In it, she collected photographs of women before and after the birth of a child. Look at them and decide for yourself: what has changed?

Wajda became interested in the topic after becoming a mother herself. “After the birth of my first child, my views on the world and motherhood changed a lot,” she recalls. “Motherhood changes a woman’s view of the world, gives her new, deeper intuition and wisdom.”

According to Wanda, she conceived the project to prove that the birth of a child does not just complicate life for parents, it brings with it new gifts that a woman can enjoy.

“The birth of this photo project was like the birth of a child,” recalls Vaida. “Both here and here nothing depends on you, you just wait for it to happen and enjoy the very state of expectation.”

The photo project involved 33 women who gave birth to 36 children - 20 boys and 16 girls - including two pairs of twins. Vaida is grateful to each of them for their participation and patience.

Some critics argue that the differences in before and after photos are noticeable primarily due to different lighting (the photographer took the before and after photos in different studios. But Wajda believes that these are only a minority of the differences, most of which are related with internal changes occurring in a woman.