A mother of four, photographer, nature lover. Someone trying to make sense of it all, through photos and stories. 

I try to be free in all senses of the word, so I made the leap and now work with what I love doing; taking pictures, storing this life in moments, both for myself and for clients. My heart is in photographing birth and motherhood, but I take on just about any photography job. 
(See my birth photos at www.birth.no and the rest of my work portfolio at www.mariavatne.no.)

I live on a farm in Norway with my man Nik and my children Ronja, Freja, Falk and Ulv, plus a bunch of animals. We grow our own food as far as the seasons allow it, we don't go to kindergarten, the three youngest ones will be homeschooled.

We govern our own lives, we strive for independence, we want to be in this life wild and free and full of love.

On holiday / October in Portugal.

On holiday / October in Portugal.

Maria Vatne

After a super busy and super wonderful high season of photography, I felt like the time was overdue to grab my wolfpack and travel. It was years since we all had been on a proper holiday together. Such is life when there is a lot going on at home and there are a lot of people and animals involved! So finally, come October, we packed our rucksacks and headed south for a week of basking in the Portugese sun.
It was so good. The best parts were leaving work behind and being able to be completely present with my family, to have us all together for a whole week of fun and play. Nothing else but being together. It was true healing for us as a family. And yes, the sun and the sea and the magical scent of wild herbs in the Portugese landscape made it pretty good, too. 

Here's a whole bunch of photos! 

(click on the image to see the next)

Both Nik and I have lived in this area in the Algarve; and that's where we met, too. I lived and worked on a horse farm/riding centre there in 02/03, and we met there years later, when I went back to visit my friend Tiffany, who runs the farm. Nik had then established a close friendship with my friend's man, Martin, so he hung around there all the time. He also worked for Martin as a tree feller. After Nik moved back to Norway we have kept in touch with Tiffany and Martin, and every time we have travelled down there, we have seen them. Last year, Martin got very ill, and Tiffany lost her beautiful man to cancer earlier this year. Nik managed to go and see him before he passed. Now was the first time he'd been there after Martin was gone. It was emotional. Martin's ashes are under a beautiful tree on the farm, and there is a bell there, his bell. We rung the bell, talked about him, hugged Tiffany tight, cried and laughed and remembered this unique, soulful and hilarous man we had been so blessed to know, one of Nik's very best friends.
This place, Tiffanys farm, is one of the places where I have been the happiest in my life. It keeps so many lovely memories for me, of hours on horseback in the hills, of beer lunches and great company and good hard work. The kids are always welcome to come and ride there, and so they did this time, too. A wonderful end to a great week!

Rascal.

Rascal.
Teenager // 13 years of magic.

Teenager // 13 years of magic.