ART
Mama Love
Monique and Nailah
My purpose in life has been defined and her name is Nailah. Everyday is filled with joy because of her.
Kathy and Cole
“Mama love” is extreme love, an infinite boundless enthusiastic circle orbiting mama and child.
Karema Daley and Onahji Wayne
Mama love begins with the thought of conception. It exists before his first cry, his first smile, his first step, his first word. It is the yearning to pass on roots and tradition. To love without condition.
Jamia, Inez and Mateo
I am constantly convicted in my heart as to what unconditional love truly means by becoming a Mother. My children push the love limits in a way that allows me to grow and I am so blessed because of it. Mama love is a love that exceeds all and is something to be cherished forever.
Dawn and Kaylan
I want to send a very powerful message to people of color about the beauty of the love between mother and child. As a breastfeeding mother and major advocate for breastfeeding in the African American community, I have seen first hand the power and benefits of physical closeness to both mother and baby.
Iliana and Egypt
Egypt’s birth was joyfully planned at home in the bathtub with no drugs and little intervention. We are visual proof of what it is to have faith in the face of fear and of what can happen when people and things are allowed to, intelligently, take their own course.
Dana and Henry
Through the eyes of my child I find the true meaning of love and the courage to express it without condition.
MAMA LOVE ARTIST STATEMENT
There is no single definition for Mama Love. It is a type of transcendent love that is difficult to describe. Mama love cannot be taught, it is a deep emotional well between mother and child.
During portrait sessions, new mothers oftentimes express amazement at the magnitude of feelings they experience. I felt it was important to document these expressions. I began inviting mothers to my studio and asked them to be photographed with their children.
The mothers range from single teens to married professionals. Some are first time mothers, others have many children. This series of over 100 women aspires to give the viewer a glimpse into the special bond between mother and child. These women are not madonnas or mother goddesses to be idolized. They are fully human, expressing all the complexities of parenthood. Their words also provide us with personal anecdotes that are both heart felt and universal.
Learn More
To learn more about Camille Mosley-Pasley, visit her studio website, where there is a special sale on “Mama-Love” style portraits.
Camille Mosley-Pasley
Camille Mosley-Pasley studied Commercial Photography at Penn Career Center, a vocational high school in Washington, DC, and earned a BFA in Fine Art from the Corcoran College of Art and Design with an emphasis on sculpture and photography. For many years she served as director for two DC area galleries. Currently, she owns and operates a photography studio, serves as chair of Market 5 Gallery, a non-profit alternative arts organization, and is an art consultant and independent curator. Through her ongoing documentary series “Transcendence” and “Mama Love,” she preserves the small, often ignored details of daily life that define her culture.
