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.

Losing myself.

Losing myself.

Maria Vatne

Sometimes I think about photography. I wonder why I have this burning need to freeze moments;  what is the source of this insatiable interest in grabbing tiny instants of life and storing them in my camera.

When I started with birth photography over three years ago, I discovered something I hadn’t thought about before. At births, I would completely disappear; I would be absorbed in the present, completely immersed in what what happening before me. I would lose myself, my inner discourse would go silent and I would be just there, in the here and now. I became sheer presence and empathy. People would ask me, after having been at long-haul births that went on 18-20 hours, did you not get very tired?, and I always answered that no - not until the journey home. I’d have forgotten about time completely.
Slowly I have become aware that it is not only birth photography that will put me into a state of full presence - it is all kinds. Capturing moments make me lose myself. My camera becomes an instrument of the senses. 

I am curious about buddhism; I read and listen, explore and try to learn. I attempt meditating, to sit with myself and my breath, to let my thoughts drift by like clouds, to be still and present and not caught up in anything. I try to be in the fresh present moment, as Pema Chödrön would say. It is hard. Not many fresh moments go by before I am distracted and off on an internal discourse. I bring myself back and try to stay, then I fly off into the noise again, and there it is, back and forth like that.

It is when I am taking photographs that my mind goes quiet. It is easy then, to be here, to only experience the present, without any distractions.

I think that is why I never tire of it; because how can you tire of the magic in the present moment, the strength of the here and now? It is complete.

Two little lambs!

Two little lambs!
Undecided.

Undecided.