For our third interview of the 2023 Delaware Fun-A-Day, we talk to mother and photographer Alexandra Duprey about documentarian-style photography, family and motherhood, setting goals and starting projects, art-making while parenting, resources for artists AND parents, and getting kids involved in the making process. Thanks, Alexandra!
We like to know how people are connected to Delaware - are you a resident, born and raised? What brought you to Delaware Fun-A-Day (DEFAD)?
My family moved to Delaware the day before I entered 6th grade. I’ve lived here ever since.
My girls were taking a summer arts camp at The Art Studio where I found a flier for last year’s Fun-A-Day. I had initially thought that it would be fun for them to participate, but signed up myself and enjoyed the challenge. It had been so long since I had kept a regular sketchbook and it was nice to have a reason to sit down and draw every day. My project was a self portrait looking out of my own eyes-- drawn from my point of view-- it became a little like keeping a visual diary-- a snapshot of the happenings of my day.
When asked to describe yourself, you wrote “If one word were to describe me, it would be that I am a maker”. Wow! It’s a perfect word and it resonates with so many folks who find their way here to Fun-A-Day with our motto “Make Art Every Day”. Tell us what being a maker means for you.
I enjoy the process! And I enjoy learning new processes.
We love how you find and infuse artistic expression into the norms of everyday life (even at times in the mundane)... it lends a sense of romance and whimsy to one’s own life… Do you feel this outlook was a product of your upbringing? Was it nature or nurture?
My childhood was spent outside-- playing in the woods, wading in creeks, painting with crushed berries, and reading in willow trees. I have an active imagination that was nurtured by nature!
How do you feel your varied interests and skill sets have informed your work as a photographer?
My love for fiber arts means that I delight in textural detail and colour (it also means that I give great styling advice), I have an intuitive understanding of light and line from my art school training in observational drawing, dancing as a child has given me an eye for poetic gesture, and my empathy allows me to photograph my subjects compassionately and gives me the grace to be able to call it (I’m not going to force anything-- If a kid is done, they are done).
How did you come to open your business, Moon Bloom Photo? What made you become a family and motherhood photographer? Was it your own experiences with pregnancy and motherhood that drove you down this avenue or was this your area of interest long before?
After I had my last baby, I didn’t want to go back to my 9-5 and I couldn’t afford the childcare to do so anyway, so I decided that I would use my photography skills to create a business that was aligned with my passion for pregnancy, birth, and motherhood.
I have always been artistically curious about what it means to be a woman. I think I initially gravitated towards traditionally female and domestic art forms because of this-- my artistic interest in motherhood is simply following my natural progression through life.
Images of mothers with their children are timeless-- think of renaissance paintings of the Madonna and Child, the work of Impressionist painter Mary Cassatt, Dorthea Lange’s “Migrant Mother”-- these images are a hundred or hundreds of years old and are still relevant today. In my client work, I hope to create artwork that is authentic to the individual mother’s experience, but resonant with the universal truths of what it means to be a mother. I hope that any mother could look at one of my images and see themselves in it.
My favorite way to photograph families is in the comfort of their own homes! I am always striving to capture what is real.
We’d be remiss in not asking you about your own children who are clearly one of your inspirations… How many children do you have? Are they participating in Fun-A-Day with you? And since the Maker’s Month is in October, we have to ask, is your one daughter’s name, Lenore, from the Edgar Allan Poe poem of the same name?
I am a mother of four. My oldest is named after the tragic lost love in Edgar Allan Poe’s, “The Raven”. My three year old and 9 year old are participating in Fun-A-Day this year. My son, Bard, is drawing a monster a day (so far he has made a “Lava Teeth Monster” and a “Box Monster”-- both are terrifying-- be warned!) and my daughter, Sloane, will be making a treasure map over the course of the month.
Tell us a little about the birth photography process and how you got started. It’s such a beautiful but intimate art form, so we’d imagine it was a little intimidating when you first got started?
As far as birth photography goes, I didn’t even realize that birth photography existed until I was pregnant with my third baby and stumbled on powerful images of birthing women on the internet. I asked my sister to take photos for me during that birth and realized for myself what a valuable tool those images were for processing the events of such an out-of-body experience. During my maternity leave, I signed up for the Birth Becomes You certification program and began studying. At that time, I was working as an auction house product photographer, so I had an understanding of my camera and I had given birth several times so I understood the birth process. The education through “Birth Becomes You” prepared me for being a part of a birth team, how to navigate extreme low light situations with and without flash, ethical concerns, and how to build birth photography into a business. I have been developing those skills ever since.
For a typical birth, I go on-call at 38 weeks and stay on-call until there is a baby. That means that even if they call me at 3am, I will answer my phone, grab my camera bag, and hop in the car to drive to their home, hospital, or birth center. I meet them at their place of birth when they are in active labor. I document labor, birth, and those first few hours postpartum. I cry every time!
The first birth I photographed was for an old friend-- I am so grateful for her trust in my ability and openness to allow me to share her birth story with others.
What is it about the documentarian style of photography that calls to you? Would you say it’s similar or dissimilar to photojournalism?
I have to say that my in-home sessions are not purely documentary. I will go into people’s houses and turn off lights and open blinds, or direct family’s into pockets of pretty light in their homes. I will tidy side tables… What I don’t do is pose people or tell them what to do. I like for interactions to unfold organically.
My birth photography is completely documentarian. I do not move or touch anything. I won’t even talk to a laboring mom unless she’s chatty or seems to need a word of encouragement.
That being said, I have a frame of mind that I am always looking for that image that tells the whole story-- for a photojournalist, this would be the photograph that would end up published in the paper (for a portrait photographer it would be the one that ends up framed on the wall). I am a storyteller and whether that is the story of the birth of your child or the story of what a typical Sunday looks like in your house right now, the way I work is the same-- there is the big picture, and then all those tiny details.
Have you shared your work with any publications?
A photograph of mine “Birthday Bath” was recently featured in a juried gallery exhibit on Parenthood-- I was so tickled when I heard that it was chosen. It’s a self-portrait of my sons and I in the tub-- it happened to be my baby’s first birthday. My work has also been featured in Shutter Up and The Photograp[Her] Magazines.
Do you have any photo equipment and photo editing tools to recommend to folks? Or possible educational/training avenues folks should consider taking?
I would say that I learn by doing, and consider myself intuitive rather than technical. But intuition can only get you so far. When I started working at the auction house as a product photographer, I was hired with zero studio experience-- I took a deep dive into learning settings, off-camera flash, and software. Being a member of PPA at that time (and reading all the manuals for my equipment) was a truly invaluable resource for me.
When I first started branching out into portraits with Moon Bloom, I had to learn how to be present with my subjects-- to observe and predict moments as they unfold so that I could be ready to capture them. I strive to capture genuine emotion and connection, and this is something that again, I had to learn by doing. I am naturally a very introverted person so interacting with strangers was challenging at first. Before every session I would be a mess of nerves-- your subjects can feel your anxiety and this makes them anxious which, in turn, makes it hard for them to relax and open up in front of the camera-- not great for emotive work! But the more I went out and photographed people I didn’t know, the easier it was for me to get out of my own head and overcome my social anxiety. Now getting to know people is one of my favorite parts of being a photographer. I have learned that I am not very good at small talk and I don’t try to be-- I like to connect with people in a deep way. I am there for them in the sanctity of their homes and birth spaces-- they have to trust and feel comfortable around me. If you want to photograph people, I think that working on your social skills is very important. A photographer and their subject work in collaboration with one another. You are making art with a living being with feelings, insecurities, expectations, traumas. I try to respect that.
Another valuable learning tool has been listening to podcasts. I especially like “The Beginner's Photography Podcast”. The host, Raymond Hatfield, interviews industry leaders in all different fields of photography who talk about their journey to success-- each journey is unique as is the individual’s definition of success. His questions are usually from a beginner’s perspective which would be helpful to anyone just starting out.
Unraveled Academy, which is an online subscription of courses with behind-the-scenes footage, was also really helpful-- watching other photographers interact with their subjects, and then viewing their editing processes and the final images they produced gave me a clear idea of how I wanted to make portraits.
Another resource that I have been leaning heavily into, especially during times when I am feeling uninspired, is checking out photography books from the Library. I have recently borrowed Annie Liebovitz’s “At Work”, Vivian Maier: “The Color Work”, “Portraits from a life: Lee Miller”, and “Face: the New Photographic Portrait” by William A. Ewing. I love reading the story behind an image-- it’s a great way to spend an evening flipping through an artist’s retrospective or a curated collection of contemporary work from a variety of artists. My biggest recommendation is for the beginner portrait photographer to stay far, far away from instagram. If you feel the need for inspiration, turn to photographers that are making fine art work.
You have several fun passion projects… “Sunday Morning: The Family Bed” is one of them, which features photos of real families co-sleeping. Can you share some details? And are you seeking more participants?
When I was growing up, my mother had a 5X7 black and white photograph of our family sleeping together framed on her bedroom wall. I was always struck by that photo-- so small, its subject matter so mundane- but displayed so proudly. As a mother with a co-sleeping family of my own now, I finally understand why that image was so important to my mom. One of her favorite axioms is “this too shall pass”, and she reminds me of this whenever I call her up to vent about the trials of the day-- one day the crick in my neck, the 3am kick in the gut, and the baby in my armpit will just be a memory of this season of my life. A photograph is a tangible memory. One day, my family bed will be but a memory and I am glad that I have my own photograph to remember this time by.
In this social media age, we see a lot of examples of lifestyle photography that takes place in the home, and even in one of the home's most intimate rooms-- the bedroom. But in those photos, the beds are neatly made, the pillows are plumped, and no one gets under the covers.
With “Sunday Morning: The Family Bed” I am currently pursuing a series of photographs of real co-sleeping families, in their beds, as they are when they wake up in the morning. My hope is that this body of work will help to normalize co-sleeping. These photographs are taken from an aerial perspective in a documentary style. No styling, no primping, no prompting-- just the real and the raw. In order to make these photographs, I need trusting families who feel as passionately about their sleeping arrangements as I do! I need to be let into their homes, at about the time that they would normally be waking up, but not getting up out of bed. (this tends to be very early for co-sleeping families which often means a start time before the sun has risen). At the agreed upon time, I will text them to let them know I've arrived. Sometimes the door is left unlocked and I get a text back that reads, “let yourself in the bedroom at the top of the stairs, second door on the left”. Sometimes, the person who lets me in is a partner who just slips right back into bed for the photos. I did have one dad that let me in, but he hung out in a chair while I started taking the pictures. I asked him very quietly if he wanted to get in bed, but he was like,”no, I’m covered in chicken shit” and declined. I bring my own step ladder, set it up beside the bed and shoot down on the family. Then I will leave. The whole process takes less than 15 minutes. I have photographed families in Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Maryland for this project. The one requirement I have would be that there needs to be enough light to shoot by, if a family sleeps with black out curtains I have to pull them back enough to allow light in to take a picture. If there is no natural light, I need to turn on a hallway or bathroom light. I never use flash. This has really stretched my technical ability and equipment. For a while I was feeling frustrated with the quality of the images I was producing, but I have come to accept that for me to be as unobtrusive and authentic as possible this is how the pictures have to be made.
This project is still active. I live in Wilmington, DE. I am limiting this to families who live within a 40 mile radius. There is no monetary compensation for participation, but I do provide high resolution digital downloads of all the images that I capture. If you are a co-sleeping family and would like to participate, you can submit and application here: https://www.moonbloomphoto.com/model-search
Creative ideas and making comes naturally to you in a way that it doesn’t for a lot of people. How does making play a role in your everyday life with work, family, friends, etc? Do you have advice for how folks can start to tap into their creativity and alter their view of the world around them?
I think that daily practice, and challenges like Delaware Fun-A-Day, are a great way to start. Also keeping materials close at hand and accessible for when the creative urge strikes, I always keep a knitting project in the car to work on when I am a passenger and one by my seat on the couch. My sketchbook is in my daily backpack along with a few micron pens. When I wake up with words in my head, I write them down.
I recently read Elizabeth Gilbert's book, “Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear”. In it she talks about letting go of the things that are holding you back from making your best work. The fear that you are talentless (if I let this fear take over I definitely wouldn’t have chosen to paint my project this year). The fear of what others will think of your work. The fear that someone might steal your ideas. Maybe you are afraid that you won’t have enough time or resources to develop your ideas. You are afraid you have started too late in life. You are afraid of your work being too personal and exposing intimate parts of yourself to the world… The list goes on and on.
My advice is to just get over it. Pick up a paintbrush if you feel the urge to paint (even if you think you suck). Have you always wanted to learn guitar? My dad started taking lessons at 58. You just have to get over the fear that is holding you back.
If you are feeling uninspired and in a creative rut, or that life has become too mundane, my advice would be to tap into your senses. Let’s consider dinner prep. You are cutting a red bell pepper. Take in the pepper’s vivid colour-- do you notice a tinge of orange or maybe a tinge of purple? When you cut the pepper does it make a sound? How about if you snap a piece that you have cut in two with your hands? Feel the bumpy inside of the pepper-- it’s so different from the smooth exterior-- take a moment to appreciate the difference. Smell and taste the pepper-- does it smell exactly like it tastes? I think that by regularly checking in with your senses, you are able to experience the world in the way an artist experiences it. And maybe that might lead to some art making!
Here in 2023, women everywhere seem to be drawing lines between the Slow Living movement and the Girl Boss movement - but you seem to be doing both! Your ability to romanticize your life coupled with your incredible work ethic seem to be in tandem… but what do you think? Should lines be drawn or should women aspire to do it all?
Life balance is something that I have lately been struggling with-- ever since I started Moon Bloom actually. I throw myself wholly into anything I do and my business is no exception.
Although I am still in “growth mode”, my intention is for Moon Bloom to provide my dream lifestyle for my family. I want to be able to be home and present for my children as they are growing up, and I also want to have the flexibility to explore my multi-passionate creativity whether or not these interests tie into my photography work. I have that clear vision in mind and I am always working towards it.
My parents each make a vision board for the new year-- I am always amazed at what having clear goals in mind has brought into their lives. It’s a practice that I want to adopt myself.
In personal descriptions of yourself, you talk about motherhood molding who you are today, and even how you can do just about anything with your kids on the hip or breast. Do you feel that parenthood forced you to slow down (in a good way) and adapt your style or preferences to ones that are “easier” to do, or more accessible, for example while breastfeeding? Any maker recommendations for other parents who may be feeling “constraints” on their creativity because of their little ones?
I became a mother very young in life (I had only just turned 21 when I had my first). And although photography has been a constant creative outlet for me, I have dabbled in many other art forms over the years. I have always included my children in these explorations of different media.
In 2015 I painted a poolside mermaid mural on our garage. I involved my kids in that mural as much as possible-- What colour should the mermaid’s tail be? What sea creatures are going to be her friends?
There was a period when my daughters were young that I was creating garments, wearable art essentially, with nuno felt, a technique of felting wool and silk fibers together. I was repurposing vintage saris into woolen vests and jackets. The process is a very physical one. The fabric is felted together through agitation so I would have to bundle the piece I was working on and roll it back and forth or step on it for over an hour, then rinse and scrub it on a washboard till it shrunk to the desired size and thickness.
My girls were right here with me, playing in the soap suds, jumping on my felting bundle, arms deep in the wash tub splashing each other. I have always felt very strongly that if we show the joy, fun, and togetherness that can be experienced while doing hard work, then the hard work becomes joyful, full of fun, and something we do together.
It’s very easy to set my three-year-old up with a knife and cutting board to chop vegetables that I will be using as ingredients to make dinner (I view cooking as a creative outlet and try to share that joy as much as possible with my kids). If I hear “I’m bored” I can send the bored one outside with scissors to cut some roses to make a floral arrangement. If I am sewing, I will have my kids make small stuffies with the remnants or keep the little guys busy with arranging the scraps that are too small to use into pictures on the floor-- I have worked at my sewing machine while nursing my babies many times.
Breastfeeding is a way I can get things done, I could wear my baby and feed them hands-free while grocery shopping or vacuuming-- it also means that I get more sleep. Lately my 20 month old is teething so I have been doing a lot of photo editing while he nurses for comfort.
As far as advice, I feel that all artist-parents must go through their own creative parenting journey. Include your children as much as they want to be included in the processes that you are working with. Kids learn so much about the materials and techniques we use just by observing us work-- they also learn the value in having creative pursuits.
My 12 year old has been eagerly accompanying me on outdoor photoshoots and I love to take her along with me. She’s great company in the car and so helpful with small children. When she is tagging along, it usually means that couples can get some photos together of just the two of them without worrying about their toddler wandering off-- she’s able to entertain the little ones for me-- oftentimes couples haven’t been photographed together just as a couple since their weddings.
How did you come upon the inspiration for your 2023 Fun-A-Day project “Dream Pool” and the idea of “painting rocks with memories/dreams and placing them underwater in a pool that you have to look down into to view”?
My “dream pool” concept is a good example of having an overly ambitious idea, and having to scale it back due to time constraints/ability to source materials- I think I am putting this one on the back burner for next year! For this year’s Fun-A-Day, I knew that I wanted to paint. Painting is something that I have never felt like I was very good at and it is a medium that I want to get better at expressing myself in. What better way than to paint every day for 31 days!
For the project that I am working on now-- tiny paintings of tornados-- I stayed with the concept of dream motifs. Tornadoes have been a part of my dreamscape since childhood-- especially at times when I feel like there is an area of my life spinning out of control. As a mother, I am often sheltering my children in these dreams. Sometimes, I simply ride my bike around my decimated hometown. At other times, I stand in awe at a safe distance. I think that tornadoes are both beautiful and terrifying.
In Cecil County, MD, just over the border from Delaware there is a movement called “Cecil Rocks” where painted rocks are hidden throughout the county and to find them is good luck. Have you thought about what you might do with your Fun-A-Day project after the show?
I am inspired to paint rocks with my kids now and hide them despite changing my project! We found a painted rock on a trail once in New Hampshire and it made our day.
Do you feel that art making should ultimately serve a purpose and be functional in some way? You seem to gravitate toward making things that will have utility or meaning beyond the aesthetic and ornamental. We’d love to hear your take on it.
I’m not going to say that beauty for beauty’s sake is not a valid pursuit. Or that conceptual art is crap because its purpose is intellectual rather than practical. One of my college professors makes conceptual rulers and measuring implements that are impractical and unusable in every way but I can still appreciate them. (If you are curious you can view them here: http://www.ricksalafia.com/)
I can only speak to the way I like to experience art. I would so much rather have something in my hand than just hanging on the wall. My favorite coffee mug is hand-thrown, my favorite sweater is hand-knit, and I love to cozy up under hand-pieced quilts. I am a very tactile person.
When I was making jewelry, which is a purely ornamental art form however, I used to think of each piece I’d work on as being imbued with power-- like an amulet. I like the idea of crafted items taking on the essence of the maker.
Anything else you’d like to share or enlighten us with?
I just want to say that I am so grateful for this opportunity to speak about my passion for motherhood and art-making-- thank you!
For any readers that are interested, I have also been creating a comprehensive resource of local providers and small woman-owned businesses that serve new and expectant parents. I have been interviewing experts on topics that range from perinatal mental health to pelvic floor therapy, homebirth, and tarot and motherhood with new articles being published on a monthly basis. If anyone is in the midst of pregnancy or postpartum you can find these resources here: https://www.moonbloomphoto.com/resources
Where can folks see your work or connect with you?
You can view examples of my work at www.moonbloomphoto.com
And on Instagram at @moon.bloom.photo
I am also on facebook @moonbloombirthstories