Local women give insight into the challenges of motherhood

A unique project captures the lives of children from the day they were born

Two mothers from Dundee, bringing up children in very different circumstances, have created a poignant photographic installation.

Called Sleep While The Baby Sleeps, it is part of an exhibition entitled The Mother Load: Dundee on display at the Hannah MacClure Centre at Abertay University until April 15.

Simone O’Callaghan, an artist and researcher in digital interactive art at the university, began the project when her first child Felix was born six years ago and invited Jenny McMillan, whose three-year-old son Blake has a rare genetic condition that leaves him vulnerable to disease and causes him profound disability, to participate.

Both women have taken a photo of their own child every night since they were born, and the accompanying narratives which detail what each mum was doing while their baby slept demonstrate the stark differences – as well as surprising similarities – between their experiences of motherhood.

The project is part of The Mother Load, a network of more than 100 artists – and mothers – established by US-based Lesli Robertson and Natalie Macellaio in 2012 to reflect how women juggle home life with their need and desire to still be creative.

Simone said: “Our work is called Sleep While The Baby Sleeps because it is about the dumbest, most impossible piece of advice that well-meaning people give you when you’re pregnant and I want to highlight this.

“Once a baby is born, sleep totally goes out the window, for a million reasons.

“Many of the images underscore just how much we all do, and how the only time we can do it is when the baby sleeps,” she continues.

Jenny, who is a full-time carer for Blake and works from home as an administrator, feels privileged that Simone asked her to be involved.

“As a mother, it’s a beautiful sight to see your child sleeping peacefully – and capturing these moments on camera is special,” she says.

“I found it very emotional putting words to the photos, particularly to the ones of Blake. It was also hard comparing the two sets of photos and the drastically different situation I found myself in after having Blake.”

It underscores how much mothers do

Jenny, with Blake, said that “it’s a beautiful sight to see your child sleeping peacefully”.