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Artsy Maine mama: Stephanie Hatzenbuehler
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Artsy mama Stephanie Haztenbuehler with her family.
Stephanie Haztenbuehler is a Portland mama, wife, and social worker. She's also a writer with a popular blog, The Letter's Edge, and a photographer with a show opening this week at The Gallery at Harmon's & Barton's.
The opening is part of Portland's First Friday Art Walk, a series of open houses at museums, galleries, studios, and alternative art venues from 5-8 pm on the First Friday of every month.
Through Lula Photography, which is named after the artist's grandmother, Stephanie creates intimate portraits of Maine's people and places. Even before she and her husband John became parents 2.5 years ago, Stephanie was focusing on what she calls "the journey into familyhood." She is known for her wedding, pregnancy, birth, and family portraits, and for the incredible fine art photographs featured in her Harmon's & Barton's show.
She shared her experience combining art and motherhood as she prepared for her second solo exhibit.
Examiner: You've been a photographer longer than you've been a mother. How has your transition into motherhood impacted your art?
Stephanie: Time. I'm more efficient. I have priorities. What once was a slow and evolving process is now a blocked, scheduled, motivated experience. That said, I am more aware of beauty...more aware of what I consider beautiful...more aware of myself. Having Eva put my feet in my shoes much more firmly. Before she was born, I could barely utter the word photographer in the same sentence as my name. Now, there's no room to dilly dally about my insecurities.
Examiner: How does motherhood inform your creative work?
Stephanie: I love shooting pregnant and nursing women. Even before I thought about getting pregnant, I shot my friends who were lovely and round. Each woman has a unique way of experiencing her pregnancy and her body. I'm good at finding that special something and turning up the volume. I enjoy shooting the world around me, but there's nothing better than creating an image that allows a woman to see her best self. No one knows how beautiful they are. It's gratifying to show them.
Examiner: You are a full-time wife and mother, a full-time social worker, and a full-time artist. How do these roles intersect? How do they support or detract from each other?
Stephanie: It's easy for me to connect with people, as a social worker or a photographer. I'm insanely intuitive, uncomfortably intuitive. It's also easy for me to fall in love and see people in their most truthful light. Whether I'm in an office with a client or sitting on someone's couch taking nursing shots with them, I'm super comfortable with that intimacy. And there's nothing more intimate than being a mother.
The real issue is time and brain capacity. It's a blessing to have so many outlets for creativity and productivity. It's also a curse because I never feel like I'm doing enough to bring anything to it's fullest potential. Ultimately, though, being a mom trumps all.
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