Zuzana Bobovníková, Photographer, Czech Republic
What is so specific about maternal leave? How does it even feel to be a mother? What do women experience and how does the existence of their child affect their own personal needs? Do they have free time for themselves after they tuck in their children at night? And if so, how do they spend it? This photographic documentary created by Zuzana Bobovníková,who has been on maternal leave herself, busts myths and stereotypes about mothers as we all know them. Her unconventional insight into the lives of women and the style in which she presents it shows us that mothers are too human beings in need of the occasional time off. Yes, they need to take care of their children, but enjoying their free time does not make bad mothers out of them. On the contrary – Each and every photo shows how much they love their children and that motherly love truly has no boundaries. (WoL)
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Let me introduce a documentary series called ‘Mothers’, which I’ve created while on maternal leave. As a mother and photographer, this period of time was rather strange and resulted in some sort of an increased initiative of mine. It was a period of self-discovery and extreme emotions, positive and negative. Amongst other things, I started to educate myself in the field of photography and for the first time ever, I felt an urge to use photography as a means to formulate and present my perspective on a specific subject, more specifically the society’s perception of women on maternal leave – a group I belong to.
I photographed each picture in the privacy of the mother’s home. After several experiments indoors and outdoors, I came to the conclusion that a person feels at ease and most secure in the privacy of their own home, letting the photographers reach their eventual goal of capturing the right images – in this case, it was to photograph mothers without their children in a way that when viewing the final set of pictures, it would be evident that these photographs of females have something in common.
The climbing wall is the necessary addition to another one of my friend’s flats, who represented Slovakia at the Winter Olympic Games as an acrobatic skier and with whom I spent long hours in the gym as a member of the same gymnastics team in Poprad…
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The photograph with the cubes in the bathtub is about a woman who used to be a professional swimmer, who loves water and whose son loves to play with cubes…
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„The society simply dictates how a ‘good’ mother should or should not behave.”
In a way, it was all some sort of a social event, a reason to get together. Some of the women were my closest friends about whom I knew a lot of personal information. I found out even more, about their hobbies, their joys and their concerns. It was not so easy with the rest of the mothers. I knew most of them from the children’s playground and it took a while for me to earn their trust and for them to feel comfortable in front of a camera. The captured moments on the photos were never arranged or made with a specific purpose; they are simply a showcase of every woman’s life.
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The cigarette in the tub is a result of my friend’s sighs, yearning for her favorite part of the day when she tucks her children in, steps into her bathtub and lights a cigarette for the ultimate relaxation…
„…a person feels at ease and most secure in the privacy of their own home…”
The role of being a mother has brought big and unpredictable changes to my life. Meeting with my friends and fellow mothers and sharing my feelings has helped me a lot over time. I think that all of the social stereotypes – negative and positive – that have to do with motherhood are just a label every mother is entitled with. The society simply dictates how a ‘good’ mother should or should not behave. Personally, having children involves great changes and will forever leave a mark on me. And that is what my photographs are about. Children will forever be with their mothers, even if they are not physically present. Their existence is evident wherever they may be…
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