by Yvette Depaepe
Published the 8th of May 2026

To all mothers around the world — this is for you.
May your love be seen, your strength honored, and your hearts forever surrounded by flowers of gratitude.

Motherhood is rarely still. It moves, bends, stretches like light across a room that never quite lands the same way twice. And yet, in photography, we try to hold it. To frame the fleeting. To give permanence to something that is, by nature, always changing.

Photography has long been a language of memory, and mothers often exist at its center—sometimes visible, often behind the lens. Many of us carry albums shaped by a mother’s gaze: birthdays, scraped knees, first days of school, the ordinary made meaningful simply because it was seen, cared for, remembered.
And yet, how often is she missing from the frame?

This Mother’s Day, perhaps the most powerful act is not just to photograph mothers, but to see them. Not as archetypes of care or symbols of strength, but as individuals—complex, evolving, human. Capture the laughter lines, the quiet pauses, the moments of solitude. Let the camera acknowledge not only what they give, but who they are.

In contemporary photography, there is a growing movement toward this honesty. Artists are turning inward, documenting motherhood not as an ideal, but as an experience—raw, tender, imperfect. These images resonate because they dismantle the myth of perfection and replace it with something far more compelling: authenticity.

This Mother’s Day, perhaps the most meaningful images are not the ones we plan, but the ones we allow. A moment of stillness. A glance. A pause between movements. The kind of photograph that doesn’t announce itself, but stays. Because long after the day has passed, what remains is not just what was seen—but who was there, holding it all together, just beyond the edge of the frame.

But you don’t need a gallery or a project to participate in this shift. It begins simply. A photograph taken with intention. A moment noticed instead of overlooked. A willingness to include the mother—not just as the observer, but as the subject. Because one day, these images will become anchors. Proof of presence. Of love that existed not in grand gestures, but in quiet, persistent ways.

So this Mother’s Day, pick up your camera—or your phone—and look again.
Not for perfection, but for truth.
Not for the extraordinary, but for the deeply familiar.
And press the shutter.

Mums, you are the Women Who Hold the World Together,
keeping it stable and providing a foundation for all that we have.

‘laundry’ by asit

‘Love’ by Martin Krystynek MQEP

‘MOTHER WITH HER SON’ by Juan Luis Duran

‘Motherhood. Now’ by Svetlana Melik-Nubarova

‘Family day’ by Samanta Krivec

‘Mother’s jump’ by Marc Apers

‘Mothers protection’ by Tatyana Tomsickova

‘Sometimes the power of motherhood is greater than the laws of nature’ by Martin Lee

‘Forever in my heart’ by Vito Guarino

‘This is the Miracle of Life’ by Yvette Depaepe

‘Just a seagull pulling my girls’ by John Wilhelm

‘Mom’s All Mine: Donna & Dalina’ by Andre du Plessis FRPS

‘Mom?’ by Heiko Riekers

‘Three generations’ by Jean-Louis VIRETTI

‘generations’ by Robert

‘The Look of a Mother’ by Ray Clark

‘385’ by Antonio Grambone

‘Yes, that’s my mother’ by João Coelho

‘30 / 30’ by Holger Droste

'Shopping with Mum' by Anita Meezen

‘Etsy Mum’ by Tanya Love