Mums that Model

[Hudo]

I hope you enjoy the video and the article.

Thanks,

hudo

http://www.youtube.com/hudcomm#play/all/uploads-all/0/liwdOYh71-4

Have you ever embarked on a personal photo project? In January 2009 we decided get started on an ambitious one of our own: a series on models who were also mothers. It took place over six months and included multiple subjects photographed in multiple locations. We called it Mums that Model.

MtM was inspired by the many mothers we had photographed over the last four to five years. We commenced the project with a broad brush, not knowing where we’d end up and only stipulating that to be involved the models must be mothers. No previous modelling experience was necessary, nor even the desire to be a model anywhere else, just the interest and enthusiasm to contribute to such a project. Some of the mothers initially involved in the project did not, for various reasons, end up appearing in the final collection of images, whereas others became involved via surprising avenues. Our youngest mum was 18 and our eldest 47, and their occupations were as diverse as their ages, including a company director, singer, fitness instructor and student, to name just a few.

In total, we photographed sixteen mothers. The photo shoots took place in our Belgrave studio as well as various outdoor locations throughout Melbourne. We shot in the hills of Healesville the weekend before the Black Saturday fires, on a cold and windy beach at Edithvale and in the rain forest, along the railway lines of the Puffing Billy tourist railway. As this was a fully self-funded project, we organized shoots around times both the mums and ourselves were available, mostly weekends. This meant we had to work with the outdoor environmental conditions thrust upon us on the day and as we were heading into winter, for the final few shoots in particular the studio was the more popular location!

Some of our mums came prepared with wild and crazy themes for their photographs, while others were completely open to suggestions. Out of the sixteen mothers, only about half had previous experience in front of the camera, so for many we had to gain their confidence before being able to capture their best in a photograph. Our experience as wedding photographers was exceptionally useful here, communicating and building trust with our subjects. In fact, one of the mothers had only been approached the night before her shoot by another of the mums, to help fill in after a last minute cancellation. She had no previous experience, only knew the other mother by association and travelled over two hours by car to our studios. For her to take up the offer and get involved took real courage.

Mothers travelled from as far away as Warnambool, Traralgon, Ballarat and Flowerdale. Our Flowerdale mum had lost her home, two cars and all her worldly processions in the Black Saturday fires. After all the emotional trauma and having to relocate her family she still took up the challenge to participate in the Mums that Model project. During shooting, we also had fires with two kilometres of our studio and on occasion faced the difficult decision to stay and defend, or evacuate.

By the end of the sixteen shoots, we had shot more than 7000 photographs taken over a 4 month period. Just over 500 individual edited images were created from those 7000 photographs, though only a small number of those images have been used in the book. We had decided to edit images as the project progressed rather than select images for editing after all shoots where completed. The studio shots where created using mono blocks and a variety of light modifiers, including soft boxes, snoots, a large beauty dish and barn doors with various grids. All our outdoor shots utilize the Nikon CL system (Creative Lighting System), with up to four SB800s and one SB900 was used, as well as a selection of small umbrellas, Lumiquest soft boxes and snoots for the speed lights.

The project threw up a variety of challenges, from inclement weather and bushfires through to short notice cancellations from mothers, which were particularly frustrating as time for shooting was limited. Several times we almost made the decision to cancel the project and just provide the already participating mothers with their photos, then move onto something else. However, the time, energy and enthusiasm contributed by the mothers who ended up in our final collection, and the stories they brought with them, inspired us to push on. The mum with a child with a disability who travelled five hours by train to participate; the mum who was dealing with issues concerning her teenage daughter which would agonize any parent; the mum who lost everything in the Black Saturday bushfires. These are the stories which made the MtM project so rich and worth pursuing.

As the number of images in the MtM collection grew, we knew we had sufficient material to start considering how best to present the results of the project. We already planned a coffee table book and began work on it immediately, discarding ideas of a calendar because we simply had too much material to share. The final book has ended up at 68 pages, with approximately four pages for each subject, and printed with a soft cover.

As videographers, we were also keen to produce a DVD, despite having not videoed the earlier stages of the project, as we wanted to have the material in a form which could be used for web distribution. Serendipitously, we came across a song by legendary Australian jazz trumpeter and singer, Vince Jones (http://www.vincejones.com.au), called This is the Woman. The emotionally invested song about mothers and the experience of motherhood seemed perfect as a backing track to showcase the images form our project. We contacted Vince and gained his permission to use the song. Subsequently, we have also created a five minute video displaying the images of the sixteen mothers who modelled for the project.

We invested close to 400 hours in this project. On many occasions we were prepared to close it down and walk away, but what we learnt most along this journey was patience. It was simply essential when working on such a long-term, self-funded project, just to get through the patches when money dried up, urgent equipment repairs were necessary, mothers cancelling with less than an hour’s notice, and the sheer amount of time required which ultimately was diverted from other aspects of daily life. Patience, and determination to see the project through, was a must.

Ultimately, we focused on the final result and enjoyed the journey along the way, and ended up with some fantastic results. We’d like to thank all the sixteen mothers who modelled for this project, shared their stories and contributed so much of themselves.
Thanks to them, this project was a great success and has inspired us to continue onto other, even more ambitious, projects – so just watch this space to see what comes next!

Hudcomm Productions is a Victorian based company that provides Video & Photography services to Corporate, Not for Profit & Private individuals. Mark & Katie Hudsons work has been published and viewed locally and internationally.

[sirhc55]

Totally brilliant

[gstark]

What Chris said.

[Hudo]

Thanks for your kind words Chris and Gary. Much appreciated.

Hudo

[Big V]

What a great project and such a perfect song choice.

[Alex]

Great project and an excellent outcome. Congratulations!

Alex

[ozczecho]

Excellent...great project and story.

[DaveB]

Very cool!

Not "Mums who Model"?
I got in trouble last time I referred to a mother as a "that".

[Hudo]

Alex and Big V, yes the song was just just so perfect for the project and we where so lucky that Vince Jones gave us permission to use it. Dave, we could have called it MILF's that Model, maybe not

[jaff]

You could not of had a more fitting song to pay tribute to these beautiful ladies, well shot and presented.
A growing journey for all involved I 'm betting!

Cheers Rob

[Hudo]

Thanks Rob. A journey for sure and one that continues soon as we progress with MtM 2.0

Hudo