Inspiration Monday: Sleeping Beauties.

You never know where you’ll get surprised and inspired.  You really don’t.  I guess that is why it is called a surprise.  But, you know, you’ve experience it at times: those moments when inspirations smacks you in the face like it was mana from heaven, an act of God, or some such.  This happened to me the other day.

I showed up for a meeting with a friend and out of the blue she presented me with a present: a book.  A photobook, to be more precise.   And a photobook of newborns at that!

This is not something I would normally have blessed with a passing glance, but my friend is pretty intuitive and she picked it special, for me.

Now don’t get me wrong.  I like newborns.  I have one myself, as well as a 2 year old, so I have been through the experience a time or two.  I even have produced a “Birth Book” for my eldest celebrating his creating and new-found existence and presented it to a grateful and interested audience of three; his mother, and his two grandmothers, (our current newborn will get one as well but our hands are a bit full at the moment.)  But, while I respect the skill it takes to photograph newborns, it is not the type of photography I normally am drawn to outside of images of my own kids.  But, I don’t know, my friend knows my soft side or something.

I wanted to cry.  That is how I felt when I first flipped through Sleeping Beauties: Newborns in Dreamland.  Written by twin sisters Tracey Raver and Kelley Ryden this book is a series of breathtaking, heartwarming, and humorous images of children aged 0-2 weeks old placed in the most adorable poses.  Each image is matched with a quote about children and parenting that speaks volumes with simplicity and directness.

Raver and Ryden are world renowned for their photographic work of newborns and are clearly masters of their craft.   They work strictly by natural light in their 85 degree Fahrenheit studio and produce the blankets, wraps, and slings in which the infants are posed.  I am moved and impressed with a newfound sense of what is possible when faced with photographing another cute baby in a beanie, even if it is only my own child.

So I encourage you, implore you, to check out this book.  Even if you only leaf through it at a bookstore, you will find a collection of very unique images created by skilled photographers.  This is not just another collection of pictures of cute kids (and we know, all kids are cute!)  No, this is some pretty amazing art that speaks to our hearts long before our minds have a chance to think up a reason why we shouldn’t be enjoying what we are seeing.