Anna Ogier-Bloomer - Nursing and peeing, Cincinnati, Ohio

2014, Archival inkjet print, 20" x 20" image on 24” x 30” paper, Edition of 3 + 2 AP, framed and mounted Let Down The let down reflex is an involuntary reflex that occurs during breastfeeding which allows the milk to flow out of the milk ducts. Often, it is simultaneously both painful and pleasurable. This powerful physical response is not only triggered by a baby suckling at the breast; it can be set off by psychological experiences, like hearing your baby cry, or even by sexual stimulation. This reflects the experience of new motherhood, complex in its pleasure and its discomfort. The images in this book, made during the first two years of my new role as mother, demonstrate the complexity of doing the most difficult yet meaningful work I’d ever done. The physical act of motherhood begins at conception and continues to evolve through a child’s life. Here, I turn my lens on these physical elements: pain on the surface of the skin, illness, emotional outpouring of love and distress, a