A mother of four, photographer, nature lover. Someone trying to make sense of it all, through photos and stories. 

I try to be free in all senses of the word, so I made the leap and now work with what I love doing; taking pictures, storing this life in moments, both for myself and for clients. My heart is in photographing birth and motherhood, but I take on just about any photography job. 
(See my birth photos at www.birth.no and the rest of my work portfolio at www.mariavatne.no.)

I live on a farm in Norway with my man Nik and my children Ronja, Freja, Falk and Ulv, plus a bunch of animals. We grow our own food as far as the seasons allow it, we don't go to kindergarten, the three youngest ones will be homeschooled.

We govern our own lives, we strive for independence, we want to be in this life wild and free and full of love.

Every day is full of treasures.

Every day is full of treasures.

Although we long so much for spring so our hearts almost burst to pieces, there is still joy to find in the everyday life. I have let myself get sucked into work way too much, especially for the last year, so documenting the small moments in our household has been on the back burner for a while. Working with photography and continuously making sure my business is growing made me forget about why I started in the first place - about my muses. And they're here, around my feet all the time, living their magical childhood days and presenting me with bunches of opportunities for encapsulating it on camera. So I am letting myself go a little; shifting my focus yet again, digging out the real reason behind my profession, the real reason I fell in love with it in the first place.

After having just been at two births and been on call since the beginning of the year, it feels good to breathe and become more present here, yet again. It's all about that ebb and flow.

Lately.

Lately.

Enough, now.

Enough, now.