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.

Woman on the verge of a nervous breakdown:

Love + vegetables
"Mrs. Payne", "the house project"
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Haha, ok it's not THAT bad (yet!), but whoa these are truly crazy times. My poor & wonderful husband is working his cute %$&# off up at the house every evening, it all seems like one holy chaos and we wonder HOW ON EARTH we will finish enough so we can make the move in four weeks. Maybe we should check out caravan rental possibilities?
In the meantime, this album is on repeat here, it's so good.
(Ps: Old photo, I have obviously been on the verge before, too.)

The coolest girls in the village.

Winter break.