Motherhood Through the Lens of Black Women Photographers

For Mother’s Day, we asked our global community to share their images of motherhood.

After checking out our curated gallery, head on over to see some of our members featured by BuzzFeed.

Wanja Njama - Boston, Massachusetts

“Photographing a tender moment between mother and child at a “Share Black Stories” photo stand powered by Instagram at annual music festival Afropunk in Brooklyn in August 2019, the first of these two images showcases a mother dotingly looking at and cradling her child.

Adorned in a yellow and purple African print dress and complimenting plain yellow headwrap, this young mother matches outfits with her daughter from headwrap to toe. The gentle yet firm wrap her arm places and forms around her child as the child looks away at the gold stand behind them, alongside her motherly emotive gaze emphasizes the simple yet loving stance and sense of pride motherhood evokes, provides, and communicates. “

“The second image candidly communicates in vibrant and expressive fashion, the manner a mother takes whilst trying to coax their child’s attention to take a picture. When placed side by side with the images that are posed and more directed in nature, the latter pale in comparison to the joy and warm nature this photo brings. It is a portrait that is candid in nature but vibrantly communicates a relatable moment in a mother’s life. It is motherhood.”

Mhandy Gerard - Atlanta, Georgia

“A mother's job is never done: pictured here is my 76-year-old very active mom. We are headed out for a hike in the southern mountains of Haiti and she makes sure to carry an umbrella in order to be prepared for any pop-up showers, her purse, as any lady would, and a "champa" a farmer's sack to carry home any provisions we may gather for dinner while out in the gardens.”

Laila AnnMarie Stevens - New York, New York

"Being the youngest sibling of 5 girls, I've watched my sisters all become mothers of baby girls before my eyes. I've learned to take on a new role as an aunt and watch what it meant to be patient, nurturing, and resilient every single day. I would not trade the world for being such a large presence in a newfound life."

Esther Sweeney - Nairobi, Kenya

“Young mothers Pauline and Joy pose with their babies at their workplace in Eldoret, Kenya. The girls who are best friends do manual labor like farming and cleaning to provide for their children. Every day they motivate each other to go out and look for work and to be the best mothers to their children while still maintaining their youth and doing fun things like dressing up and taking pictures together.”

Alayna N. Pernell - Chicago, Illinois

“For every African American family, including my own, the ways in which we maneuver through diasporic displacement differs. In my series, The Alluring Fog, I navigate through the unknown by revealing the complexities of having the identity as an African American despite the duality of not completely knowing my African roots and not fully being treated as American in the United States. Through documenting the women in my family, myself, and our surroundings, I disclose the personal ways in which my own family acknowledges our African heritage in our everyday lives both directly and indirectly in spite of our displacement from our African roots.”

Cassandra Plavoukos - Los Angeles, California

“My Mother's prized yeast rolls were her badge of honor. A long-standing tradition, no holiday or holiday dinner was complete without them. Watching her make them "from scratch" was mesmerizing, and art onto itself. I am so grateful to have these pictures to live on in her memory. I only wish I had done less spectating and more hands-on learning so that I could pass this tradition down to my own children.”

Karene Isabelle - Montreal, Canada

“Stacy and her mom both work in health care. Stacy is a nurse and her mom is a hospital administrator. They also happen to both work at the same hospital. Stacy followed in her mother's footsteps and decided to go into health care. They are both battling COVID together during this third wave of the pandemic in a Montreal-area hospital.”