Venezuelans wave a US flag at a television helicopter flying over the Rio Grande, in Matamoros, Mexico, on Friday 12 May 2023, a day after pandemic-related asylum restrictions called Title 42 were lifted
Photograph: Fernando Llano/AP
In 2018, a friend of photographer Stefanie Belnavis asked her to do a maternity shoot. The friend, dancer and doctor Sade Bully-Bell, was towards the end of her pregnancy and wanted photos to remember the moment. Belnavis shot photos of Bully-Bell in Boston’s Fens area. “There was a lot of high grass,” says Belnavis. “You couldn’t even tell that we were shooting in Boston.
Weeks later, Bully-Bell gave birth. Tragically, the baby, named Isaiah, was stillborn. “This one hit me hard because I realized the people who I knew — who’d been pregnant — nobody really talked about adverse experiences,” says Belnavis.
Belnavis, who is also a licensed mental health clinician and a perinatal movement psychotherapist, was inspired to start Birthlooms, a photography project that captures moments during the prenatal, labor, child birth and postpartum period, both “joyous and complex.” Birthlooms focuses specifically on Black and brown birthing people. Since starting the project, Belnavis has photographed around 40 different families. “If you look at birth photography, it’s very glamorized, which I’m not against,” she says. “But I felt like there was a whole sector of the perinatal experience that was missing visually.”
The experience before, during and after birth can look very different for birthing people of color. Black, American Indian and Alaska Native birthing people have higher rates of pregnancy-related death compared to white women, and are also less likely to access pre-natal care earlier on in pregnancy. Infants born to birthing people of color also have higher mortality rates.
“For example, Black Maternal Health Week just passed, and you see the statistics for Black birthing people,” says Belnavis. “But how do we broaden that beyond just the hashtag? How do you even start those conversations?”
I felt like there was a whole sector of the perinatal experience that was missing visually.
Stefanie Belnavis
Through Birthlooms, and working with clients during all stages of the perinatal journey, Belnavis begins that important dialogue. Belnavis has a background as a board-certified dance movement psychotherapist and worked as an early childhood mental health clinician — she utilizes those skills as she builds relationships with her subjects. “As a somatic practitioner, as somebody who loves to be in relationship with people, who loves to celebrate their stories, I came at it from a different lens,” she says. “There is a therapeutic component.”
For Nyacko Pearl Perry, an organization development consultant and co-founder of Comfort Kitchen in Dorchester, working with Birthlooms for her maternity shoot was an essential experience. Belnavis photographed Perry in 2022, a few months before Perry gave birth to her son.
“I felt very held and heard through the process,” says Perry. “She was always very centered towards me, and [asking] how am I doing and how am I feeling.”
Before giving birth to her son, Perry went through a miscarriage. “It just went from there’s a heartbeat to there’s no longer heartbeat… It was pretty horrific,” Perry explains. She recalls her doctor being cold and distant, not emotionally available to help support her through a difficult time.
As a birthing person of color, Perry was keenly away of the health disparities she faced. When she became pregnant a second time, Perry says that there were moments when she felt like a “walking statistic… I didn’t have a lot of trust in the hospital to give me the emotional support I needed.”
Some of that support Perry found in Birthlooms. Being photographed by Belnavis was a way to solidify and memorialize the beauty of pregnancy while acknowledging the impact of her previous loss. Belnavis shared informational resources with Perry while helping her generate a list of items needed once the baby was born. “She just has an awareness and a sensitivity to all the experiences related to pregnancy and bereavement,” says Perry.
Feeling seen and held, as Perry describes it, is incredibly important for birthing people of color who are already facing silos in healthcare. “I hope that individuals who have shared experiences around birth bereavement or grief or loss… that they feel represented and that they also get to experience liberation in the process,” says Belnavis.
It’s not just about the photographs for Belnavis. She describes her practice as a co-journey, not only with Black and brown birthing people but birth workers as well. Belnavis’ photos help provide and build out a visual context for what the perinatal journey looks like. “I want to amplify representation within the perinatal photography space and also, evoke more conversation and advocacy.”
Birthlooms has even made Belnavis rethink her own mother’s birthing journey. “I learned, since the pandemic, that my two sisters were delivered by our family doctor, but I was delivered by a midwife,” Belnavis says. “I didn’t know that all these years. What was that experience like, giving birth with a midwife in 1980s Jamaica? It just prompts a lot more conversation, which I think is exciting and very much needed.”
Belnavis plans to continue to expand Birthlooms in ways that allow her to share and highlight the stories of the people she photographs, with hopes for more workshops and a potential summit in the near future. She also has a private practice called A Bucket for the Well that is “a perinatal creative wellness practice where I provide perinatal mental health support and movement psychotherapy support for Black and brown birthing folks and also birth workers.”
For Belnavis, Birthlooms has opened up an entire world of possibility. “I just want to continue empowering Black and brown birthing folks to honor their stories.”
Belnavis hosts a portrait pop-up for Mother’s Day on Sunday, May 12 at Emerald City Plant Shop.
Kentucky is now the first state in the nation to capture oblique (side/angle view) photography of its entire geography from the sky. The KYFromAbove Program and its contractor, NV5, achieved this milestone after pilots flew 2,600 flight lines over Kentucky’s beautiful landscape, travelling 117,000 miles and capturing 40,660 square miles of the commonwealth’s land, including our cities, towns, farms, lakes, mountains and more.
“This is an amazing resource that will improve public safety, all while boosting our infrastructure projects and economic development,” Gov. Andy Beshear said. “These images will have an immediate impact, because they can help first responders find and assist Kentuckians after a 911 call. And they’ll have a long-term impact, as more companies and families choose to move to our new Kentucky home. Congratulations to KYFromAbove, NV5 and every pilot that helped us lead the nation and reach this goal of statewide coverage.”
An aerial view of Edmonton, KY (Photo provided)
Aerial images make it easier for emergency management leaders to assess damage after natural disasters and find safer places to rebuild. They can also enhance:
• economic site development and selection;
• plan and design work for infrastructure projects;
• broadband deployment;
• wildlife management;
• property assessment; and
• a variety of projects undertaken by engineers, surveyors, real estate firms, commercial developers, roofing and fencing contractors, consultants and other professionals.
The NV5 team completed acquisition of oblique imagery of the entire state in just two years, despite challenging requirements to accurately capture Kentucky’s geography. The imagery could only be collected under ideal conditions: minimal leaves on the trees, no clouds, no snow, no flooding and at a sun angle of greater than 30 degrees.
The KY From Above Program was established in 2010 by the Kentucky Geographic Information Advisory Council (GIAC) and is managed by the Commonwealth Office of Technology’s Division of Geographic Information. Its mission is to democratize access to geographic information in Kentucky by providing detailed elevation data and aerial photography at KYFromAbove.ky.gov, all at no cost to government leaders, the private sector and all Kentuckians.
The new imagery is being stored in a publicly accessible cloud folder, thanks to the Amazon Open Data Sponsorship program. This means that every community across the commonwealth now has access to both oblique and ortho (top-down view) imagery at a stunning three-inch resolution. Typically, these images would only be available in larger cities and counties due to budget constraints, but now, even the smallest communities will have full and equal access.
Dispatchers at Kentucky’s certified 911 call centers are some of the first to benefit from the new aerial images.
“The KyFromAbove aerial photography initiative is highly beneficial to Kentucky’s first responders,” said Mike Sunseri, the Kentucky Office of Homeland Security’s deputy executive director and 911 Services Board administrator. “Adding the ability to leverage oblique imagery is another valuable tool to increase situational awareness during emergencies and better direct emergency response.”
The accuracy and clarity of the new imagery provide an unprecedented aerial view of Kentucky’s landscape and context for hundreds of map layers in state and local government agencies.
“High-resolution orthoimagery is a vital foundational component of our community’s geographic information system and is our most widely used base map,” said Curt Bynum, Louisville/Jefferson County Information Consortium (LOJIC)’s director. “Oblique imagery coming with the most recent, statewide acquisition will be an important new resource for a wide range of public services including emergency response, asset management and economic development in Louisville Metro. LOJIC has been closely involved with the KyFromAbove effort since its beginning in 2010 and we commend our Kentucky Division of Geographic Information for many years of building Kentucky orthoimagery and LiDAR resources and for leading the effort to make Kentucky the first state in the U.S. to acquire statewide oblique aerial imagery.”
Kentucky Finance & Administration Cabinet
A drone light show at Rotorua Lakefront is set to light up the sky this Matariki.
Part of the Aronui Indigenous Arts Festival, the event on June 27 and June 28 will feature 160 drones programmed to form images in the sky, sharing the story of how Matariki is connected to the taiao (our environment), the festival said in a statement today.
Rotorua artists will record a story that will broadcast live on speakers accompanying the drone formation as well as taonga pūoro (traditional musical instruments) recordings by artist James Webster.
Aronui trustee and arts veteran June Grant said since time immemorial, the stars in the sky had given us direction.
“Matariki is a modern manifestation of flying stars that illustrate aspirational themes and exciting imagery for everyone who will witness this magic light show”.
Rotorua mayor Tania Tapsell said Aronui’s show was a welcome addition to Rotorua’s Matariki long weekend.
“We congratulate Aronui for bringing this truly unique experience to Rotorua locals and visitors.
“This innovative show supports Rotorua’s reputation as a world-class destination, and importantly a strong home of Māori culture.”
Drone shows have grown in popularity internationally, although the trend is still to take hold in New Zealand, the statement said.
Aronui is an indigenous all-arts festival that traditionally runs across the September period, however this year, the board decided to bring arts to the community outside of the September period.
Founding Festival Director Cian Elyse White said the drone show was an example of how traditional concepts could be accessed through leveraging new, digital mediums.
“Our show has been guided by local tohunga reo, Mataia Keepa, who has made Dr Ahorangi Rangi Mātāmua aware of this show’s existence.
“It is a collaboration of story, light, sound and Matariki themes that will be accessible to all ages”.
First Lights Artistic Associate, Ilona McGuire (Noongar Bibbulmun & Kungarakan language tribes Western and Northern Australia), said the collaboration and connection were at the heart of this activation.
“Learning the story of Matariki and collaborating as artists, the oldest and youngest indigenous peoples of the world, has been the beating heart of this project – a beautiful opportunity for cross-cultural connectivity”.
The shows will be free and will start at 8pm on June 27 and 28 alongside the Rotorua Night Market which will be at the Rotorua Lakefront during Matariki from 5.30pm.
The show is titled, ‘Matariki’ and has been created by Aronui, supported by First Lights | Perth WA.
– NZ Herald
Three kids. Four professional cameras. A brand new studio at 223 W. Bremer Ave., in Waverly, right in the former Gade’s Appliance store.
That’s the space for Alexis Dawson, the owner of Alexis Rose Photography, one of Waverly’s newest businesses.
On Sunday, she had her first scheduled session for a newborn, a great beginning to her adventure in photography as a business woman. Alexis will also focus on event photography, such as fundraisers, celebrations, weddings, and portraiture.
A 2013 graduate of Clarksville High School, she honed her skills in photography as one of the editors of the school’s year book.
But it wasn’t until she moved to Chattanooga, Tennessee, in 2019, with her fiancé, Nikolas, that her passion for capturing special moments was reignited. What prompted Alexis to do that was the birth of her daughter, Vaeda Rose, who was born just before the pandemic hit.
“I couldn’t afford to pay a photographer to take her pictures because I wasn’t working at the time, but I knew I could learn the skills of photographing newborns,” she said.
From there, Alexis branched out into family photography and her first paid session was an engagement for a couple who found her work on Facebook.
“It lightly rained that day and I called this session ‘Kissing in the Rain,’ she said, smiling at the memory. “And from there, I knew this was what I wanted to do as a career.”
Moving back to Iowa in 2022 for Nikolas’s job, now as a mother of two, Alexis decided she needed to carve out her own professional niche. The family bought a house in Waverly, where Nikolas’s mother, Kristi Demuth, had an insurance business on West Bremer Avenue.
“The support of the community is outstanding and I wouldn’t want to live anywhere else,” Alexis said.
About a year ago, when she drove by the vacant Gade’s building, she had an epiphany. It looked like the perfect space for what she had always wanted to have – a photography studio.
“When I saw the ‘for rent’ sign, I did not hesitate to call,” she said.
In mid April, with help from Nikolas and his dad, Joel, the family started remodeling the interior. They painted the walls, laid new flooring, and are in the process of turning the back room into a dressing room.
There are nine backdrops for portraits and a boho setup, with wicker furniture and white curtains for family photographs.
In the loft, which is accessible from the main open space, they created a playroom for the kids, Jayce, 11, Vaeda, 4, and Elliot, 5 months.
“It will be a place for work and also a place for raising my kids,” she said.
Clients are lining up for various projects, including milestones, sports, graduation photos and weddings.
“I am so excited to have a space because it will allow me to accommodate bad weather situations and also, I really like the look of milestone portraits indoors,” she said.
