Anna Yarrow

ASLEEP/AWAKE

Asleep

I needed to pause time. Find space within my mother-role. Feel something beyond duty, responsibility, and the work of parenting.

I remember when it clicked: the camera capturing my growing love for a sleeping two-year-old zipped up warm in her footie pajamas. An image that said wonder-essence-beauty-being. My wild-by-day daughter turned calm and still.

These portraits were created with tenderness and awe.

clipped news paper article of Eartha Kit and bits of surrounding text on white background  Red hurricane-shaped swirl with yellow eye and white background.

Large cardboard box with TV screen featuring an eye.  Red hurricane-shaped swirl with yellow eye and white background.

Red hurricane-shaped swirl with yellow eye and white background.

 

Awake

When my daughter comes home after weekends at her Dad's house, she asks, "Mom, did you write anything while I was away? Did you update your blog? Can I read it? Can I look at your photos?"

Over the past year, the act of writing, taking pictures, and turning our lives into Art has created a huge positive shift in our relationship. Seeing. Listening. Sharing our feelings and experiences. We've found a way to play together.

I document her intensity; her sometimes fierce interaction with me and the world.

"Mom, do you wish I didn't have Aspergers? " No. Autism/Aspergers isn't as big and scary to me anymore. Some days the symptoms are loud and it's useful to have an explanation. Most days we simply dwell in our version of normal.

I look at the portraits I've taken and feel teary pride and joy for this daughter-child. We've traveled through crisis and disconnect, and landed here to celebrate what is.

On her 9th birthday:

clipped news paper article of Eartha Kit and bits of surrounding text on white background  Red hurricane-shaped swirl with yellow eye and white background.

 

Red hurricane-shaped swirl with yellow eye and white background.  Red hurricane-shaped swirl with yellow eye and white background.

Large cardboard box with TV screen featuring an eye.  Large cardboard box with TV screen featuring an eye.

 

Anna Yarrow is a photographer, writer, and submissions editor for Hip Mama magazine. Her work is featured in the anthology, Monday Coffee & Other Stories of Mothering Children with Special Needs. She lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico. More of Yarrow's work can be seen on her blog at annayarrow.com.