For all mortals, birth is suffering

The birth of my second child, I hesitated for a long time, before deciding

on posting it. I wanted to capture the shocking crudeness of child birth.

Both brutal and soul lifting, this is one of the best moments in a man's

life.

Thank you for all your comments,

Congratulations Juan, I also made a series the first time, Kodak Retina IIIs,colorfilm 400iso/flash, ipod,1976,,, the doctors sent me outside ;) to relax !,,,things have change,,,n

Congratulations again. I don't know how long you waited to post, but by now, the fact that you have two has probably sunk in. I learned that one plus one equals about five (or feels like five). Great work.

Congratulations Juan...I share a birthday with your child (exposure date Dec 12). Best wishes to you all. Oh...and it does look brutal, but beautiful too.

"This is one of the best moments in a man's life." How true this is. This brings happy memories of the birth of my own children. Congratulations and thank you for brightening my day. Best wishes to you and your family. George

Niels, thank you. I will tell you that I got really close of being politely asked outside; I still don't know how I managed to stay through the whole process. One thing is for sure, I have no plans to go into any OR, to take pictures, not ever.

 

Jeff, thanks. I'm slowly finding out the truth behind those words...... To think that at one point, my wife and I even talked about going for # 3!!!!! We now laugh at the idea. (an awkward and nervous laugh, of course) So, we'll probably settle with just the five ;)

 

Drew, that's amazing, what a coincidence!! Thank you for your visit and comments.

 

George, thank you. Indeed this is such a happy moment, that it marks your forever. Being a father is truly the ultimate living experience. Cheers,

 

 

I only have one child and remember the birth as if I was in a dream. I can't even imagine having enough composure to make an image like this.

 

Congratulations my friend. A new baby boy and an incredible image to go with it. Now we expect to see the proud papa images of this little guy . . . done Juan Carlos style.

Thank you Drew, I really appreciate your visit and congratulations. Actually the baby is a little girl, whom I'm absolutely thrilled about; especially since the first one is a boy. I will surely be posting more of these two cute little buggers. Cheers,

Congratulations !! Just amazing!

Thank you Joseph, I really appreciate it.

I totally understand your hesitation in posting the pictures. I, too, took pictures at Gabriel's birth, but I was very selective in what I posted because I was not a clinician, distantly recording an abstract event, but a participant in perhaps the most important event of my life. You cannot separate yourself from the emotional aspect of it all, and in the end, when you see your wife bleeding and struggling, you forget the camera and stays with her in that moment, so that, in the end, the pictures compete with the reality of the event as the memory of what transpired. Finally, it IS a violent and brutal image seeing her cut open like that, and it does dehumanize her a bit. There is a part of you that REFUSES to see her like that.

Hola,Juan Carlos.Enhorabuena y felicidades por tu segundo hijo.Ciertamente es un momento muy especial y uno de los mas importantes y emotivos de la vida,si no el que mas.Gracias por compartirlo.Os deseo lo mejor.

 

Un abrazo -Tolo.

Hola Juan Carlos. Primero de todo felicitarte por ese nuevo hijo y por el reportaje que le has hecho que quedara de recuerdo para siempre. Ahora tienes muchos anyos por delante para continuar fotografiando la evolucion que va teniendo. Enhorabuena!!

Emmanuel, like you, my feelings towards this moment are very strong; indeed these are moments that mark one's life forever.

Having your wife on an operating table, being cut open, is certainly not easy to withhold; on the other hand, she was so strong and confident, that it was more joy than worries for us......perhaps that's the biggest secret behind this photos: Her confidence, strength and peacefulness. Thank you for stopping by and leaving your heartfelt comments.

 

Tolo, Belén, bien dicen que el nacimiento de un hijo lo cambia todo, lo increíble es que el nacimiento del segundo, lo vuelve a hacer. Como padres, la visión del mundo, cambia definitivamente. Gracias a ambos por vuestra visita y comentarios, es un verdadero placer poder compartir este momento de felicidad con mis amigos de Photo.net. Un abrazo!

 

This series had to be posted...to remind us all why women are truly more than goddesses...well done sir...and congratulations to you and your Goddess...juan

Qué momento! Qué momento! Qué momento! Felicidades y sobre todo, muchas gracias por compartir MOMENTOS así, así de bien. Genial!!

Congratulations, my friend! I am so happy for you and your wife and family! Terrific news, and a wonderful documentary photograph! Happy New Year to All of You! Cheers! Chris

My best wishes for all of you :)

I am amazed by this photo! Bravo!

Juan, thank you for your visit and comment; you say well, mothers are much more than goddesses.....all I can add is how much more in love I'm with my wife, being a mother has certainly changed here, and uplifted here spirit.

 

Marta, c'est la vie!....Y la vida es bella!! Muchas gracias por tan emotivo mensaje.

 

Chris, thank you very much my friend. As you well say, this is an enormously significant moment.

 

Tatjana, thank you too, for your visit, and comment.

 

 

 

 

 

En primer lugar la enhorabuena para tu mujer y despues para ti. Las madres creo que no dejan de sufrir toda la vida por sus hijos, desde el primer momento en que se enteran que estan embarazadas. La vida es maravillosa y el nacimiento un momento unico donde la individualidad empieza su camino. Supongo que no hara falta que veas estas imagenes para recordar este momento, es algo que siempre tendras contigo. Gracias por compartir estos momentos tan intimos . Mis mejores deseos para ti y tu familia. Como curiosidad te dire que mi madre tambien nacio un doce de Diciembre. Un abrazo. Vicente.

Juan on the birth of your baby girl. This is a very dramatic image and beautifully done. We definitely approached the same subject from different angles.

 

Thanks for your input on the technical aspect of my image, Juan. You are right, i should have stopped down some more (now that i see how perfect exposure yours are)

 

I am hoping to do a vaginal delivery some day :o).

 

Once again. Warm wishes to another great joy in your family.

 

Tanya

Heart felt congratulations.

Vicente, lo que dices es una gran verdad, no hay mayor amor que el de una madre por su hijo. Por cierto, vaya coincidencia! Al igual que como has dicho, te agradezco de corazón, compartir conmigo tus pensamientos y palabras. Un abrazo,

 

Thank you Tanya, I'm glad I could help you. I'll be eagerly waiting to see the results the nest time you are shooting inside an OR; I'm sure you'll get better pictures than I did.

 

Tony, thank you very much, I really appreciate it.

 

I was looking for your picture of a rope and stumbled upon this. It is very graphic. I do feel you have captured what you want to here. Stange as it may seem, I don't want to look at it but it is compelling.

Thank you David, I appreciate your comment on this, one of my personal favorites, for evident reasons.

I couldn't agree more with your comments, after all this time, every time I look at it, it wakes all sorts of feelings....this was both a beautiful and dreadful moment.

 

Coincidentally, the baby turns one year old tomorrow, and so does the photo.

 

Cheers,