Catherine Colgan
07-11-2006, 07:04 PM
These photos are the hardest (http://www.bellevueleader.com/site/tab3.cfm?newsid=16880753&BRD=2712&PAG=461&dept_id=559850&rfi=6)
By: Stephanie Queen, Leader staff writer
07/06/2006
The portrait is breathtaking to behold: A mother lovingly cuddles the tiny newborn while her husband gazes down wonderingly at his new daughter. She is wrapped in soft baby blankets and a little knitted cap, her eyelashes gently fanned out against the smooth expanse of her tiny cheek, hiding eyes as blue as the sky after a rain.
The perfect portrait of a family.
But sadly, this is the only family photo the family will ever know. The love on the mother's face is not the hopeful smile of years to come, but the heartbreaking realization that her new daughter, born too early, will never see tomorrow.
The portrait is what her parents will have to remember her.
For parents of a stillborn child or a terminally ill infant, sharing those last precious moments with their child is the only thing that matters. That's where Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep (http://www.bellevueleader.com/site/www.nowilaymedowntosleep.org), a national organization of professional photographers, helps to bring closure to families as they remember a life that barely began.
"It's such an important gift to give to these people," said photographer Marea Bishop, owner of Photography by Marea (http://www.bellevueleader.com/site/www.photographybymarea.com) in Bellevue.
Bishop signed up with Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep a little over a month ago. The organization and its members offer their services free of charge, as well as the CD and DVD of portraits given to the family.
The service is on an on-call basis. If there is a stillborn or terminally ill child born, hospital staff or clergy will inform the family of Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep. If the family chooses to have portraits done, a member photographer is notified and will come as soon as possible.
The photographers must work with whatever they can, Bishop said. Hospital rooms can be draped with cloth covers so equipment can't be seen. But for the most part, each photographer must work with the family to give them what they need in their time of grief.
"People don't want a production," Bishop said. "Whatever is comfortable. You have to have a sense for people and what is going to be acceptable. Each one is pretty unique. Each case, you go by what you feel is right."
Bishop said some parents do not want to let their child out of their arms, and photographers have to shoot what they can. She said adding baby blankets and the child's teddy bears can help personalize the portraits. The most important part of the shoot, however, is capturing the image of the child.
"We're just trying to capture the beauty of this perfect little human being. Every detail displays perfection," she said.
Bishop said she realizes some people may consider it crude to take photographs of a dead or dying child, but the photographs are not like that at all.
"Some people may think of it as morbid or strange, but they're the people who haven't experienced that kind of loss. As sad as it is, there's a joy in giving them memories of their children," she said.
Bishop said the process is emotionally draining on everyone involved. She said she was terrified the first time she went to the hospital to take photographs, crying the entire drive there and home.
Initially, it was the emotional pull that kept Bishop from signing up with Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep. She was approached by Herb Thompson, a photographer in Papillion, about joining, but she told him, "I could never do that."
Bishop then looked toward her own experiences. Her father was a pilot and disappeared while flying over Spain in 1980. She realized that she never had any closure from his presumed death.
"I realized the closure that it gives to families," she said. "I never had that. Now I feel so blessed. I can't not do this."
To find out more about Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep, visit the organization's website (http://www.bellevueleader.com/site/www.nowilaymedowntosleep.org).
©Suburban Newspapers 2006
By: Stephanie Queen, Leader staff writer
07/06/2006
The portrait is breathtaking to behold: A mother lovingly cuddles the tiny newborn while her husband gazes down wonderingly at his new daughter. She is wrapped in soft baby blankets and a little knitted cap, her eyelashes gently fanned out against the smooth expanse of her tiny cheek, hiding eyes as blue as the sky after a rain.
The perfect portrait of a family.
But sadly, this is the only family photo the family will ever know. The love on the mother's face is not the hopeful smile of years to come, but the heartbreaking realization that her new daughter, born too early, will never see tomorrow.
The portrait is what her parents will have to remember her.
For parents of a stillborn child or a terminally ill infant, sharing those last precious moments with their child is the only thing that matters. That's where Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep (http://www.bellevueleader.com/site/www.nowilaymedowntosleep.org), a national organization of professional photographers, helps to bring closure to families as they remember a life that barely began.
"It's such an important gift to give to these people," said photographer Marea Bishop, owner of Photography by Marea (http://www.bellevueleader.com/site/www.photographybymarea.com) in Bellevue.
Bishop signed up with Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep a little over a month ago. The organization and its members offer their services free of charge, as well as the CD and DVD of portraits given to the family.
The service is on an on-call basis. If there is a stillborn or terminally ill child born, hospital staff or clergy will inform the family of Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep. If the family chooses to have portraits done, a member photographer is notified and will come as soon as possible.
The photographers must work with whatever they can, Bishop said. Hospital rooms can be draped with cloth covers so equipment can't be seen. But for the most part, each photographer must work with the family to give them what they need in their time of grief.
"People don't want a production," Bishop said. "Whatever is comfortable. You have to have a sense for people and what is going to be acceptable. Each one is pretty unique. Each case, you go by what you feel is right."
Bishop said some parents do not want to let their child out of their arms, and photographers have to shoot what they can. She said adding baby blankets and the child's teddy bears can help personalize the portraits. The most important part of the shoot, however, is capturing the image of the child.
"We're just trying to capture the beauty of this perfect little human being. Every detail displays perfection," she said.
Bishop said she realizes some people may consider it crude to take photographs of a dead or dying child, but the photographs are not like that at all.
"Some people may think of it as morbid or strange, but they're the people who haven't experienced that kind of loss. As sad as it is, there's a joy in giving them memories of their children," she said.
Bishop said the process is emotionally draining on everyone involved. She said she was terrified the first time she went to the hospital to take photographs, crying the entire drive there and home.
Initially, it was the emotional pull that kept Bishop from signing up with Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep. She was approached by Herb Thompson, a photographer in Papillion, about joining, but she told him, "I could never do that."
Bishop then looked toward her own experiences. Her father was a pilot and disappeared while flying over Spain in 1980. She realized that she never had any closure from his presumed death.
"I realized the closure that it gives to families," she said. "I never had that. Now I feel so blessed. I can't not do this."
To find out more about Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep, visit the organization's website (http://www.bellevueleader.com/site/www.nowilaymedowntosleep.org).
©Suburban Newspapers 2006