#Ittasteslikelove photographer Rosie is off on a new adventure, as she bids farewell to the city that's been her home for more than 25 years to make a new life in London, she tells us why she joined the campaign, her highlights, and why this isn't goodbye...
Rosie and her family shot by Mai Fotography
As my journey in Hong Kong comes to an end, I can’t help but reflect on my time here, I have spent the last 25 years in this beautiful city, particularly the last 5 years which with it came a change of career from teacher to photographer, and the birth of my two beautiful children.
When I started my photography business I did not know what I was going to photograph, I had no idea what I wanted to focus on and what my niche would be. I tried every type of photography from products and pets, to families before eventually I ventured into the world of newborn photography.
As soon as I had a taste for it I knew that this is what I wanted to do.
When I began I did not have any children of my own and handling other peoples tiny fresh new babies was exciting and terrifying all at once. But capturing them at their rawest and smallest form was an art that I fell in love with.
Seeing parents respond to photos of their little babies with such pride and happiness made it all worth it.
Now, newborn shoots are no walk in the park. They can go on for up to four hours. Yes, you read that right! During those two, three or even four hours I spent a lot of time with mums, some were new mums, some were on their second or third child.
I can’t even begin to explain how much these women taught me.
It was a lovely bonding experience and for the most part, mums loved to tell me about every bit of their postpartum life. One of the most fascinating things to me was in between shots - when we had to calm the babies down the mother’s would feed their babies. Some were bottle fed, and some were breastfed.
I remember the first time I photographed a breastfeeding mother.
We were in between set ups and the baby was hungry, I asked her if she would like some privacy to feed her baby, but she declined and said she was happy to feed on set whilst I got my props ready for the next shot. A few minutes in I turned around.
I saw was the most beautiful image of a mum nurturing and feeding her daughter.
It was such a tender, loving moment that without hesitation I asked if she'd like me to take a few shots of her whilst she nursed.
Her eyes lit up and said she would love that.
So there it was - my first ever breastfeeding picture. To this day I look back at it often, the baby with eyes open, looking straight at the mother with so much love and the mother looking straight down at her baby. You can feel the oxytocin that is passing through just by looking at their gaze, there is so much emotion.
I still get goosebumps every time I see the image.
By the time I had met Liz I had already had my first child and was breastfeeding her, I had experience photographing nursing mothers and I was so ready to take it to the next level and participate in a campaign that would bring awareness and normalise the act of breastfeeding.
It was the perfect combination.
Breastfeeding advocate teams up with nursing mother/photographer to create content and engage the media and the community to help change the vision and perception of one of the most natural (if not the most) act in the world.
We had a blast, we took the #Ittasteslikelove message of normalising breastfeeding - however, wherever, whenever - and ran with it.
Our antics involved everything from jumping in taxis, trams, boats and exploring the city and its quaint corners for everyday shoots to filming in some of Hong Kong's most exclusive spots. It has been so much fun to say the least, and I will miss working with her dearly.
It feels sad to say this is the end, however I am excited to carry on this legacy in London, and continue to spread the message and awareness of nursing, and to normalise the act so that mother’s everywhere feel safe feeding their children.
Rosie and her daughter, shot by Gonzalo Moreno Fotography
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