Times photographer Jenny Lewis publishes intimate portraits of babies “One Day Young”

Hackney Gazette: Jenny LewisJenny Lewis (Image: Archant)

A photographer’s five year labour of love, capturing the first day of the intimate bond between mother and baby has been turned into to hardback book.

Jenny Lewis, who lives in Queensbridge Road, Dalston, and is a mother-of-two herself, appealed in the Gazette for mothers to come forward to feature in her book One Day Young in 2009.

Having now taken photos of 150 fellow parents she is over the moon that it is finally being published by Hoxton Mini Press.

Mrs Lewis, who works in celebrity photography on the covers of magazines with the likes of Thandie Newton, Peter Blake and the Beastie Boys, sought out mothers from her home borough.

They are all photographed in their own environments, providing a personal backdrop to each portrait.

“What I am capturing is the strength and wonder, the pure energy and excitement of bonding with the baby they have just met,” said Mrs Lewis, who has worked as a portrait photographer for the last 15 years.

“In fact the whole range of amazing emotions felt at that time, as the mothering instinct kicks in.

“This is about the positive side of birth rather than the sensationalised by the One Born Every Minute vibe,” she added, referring to the emotionally-charged TV documentary set in a maternity ward.

The book One Day Young which will be published on March 12, contains 40 portraits of mother and child.