Nothing touches our hearts more than the stunning and moving rainbow maternity photo shoots that light up our newsfeeds each week. We were intrigued, however, when a ‘hurricane’ shoot popped up on our timeline.
When we explored the gorgeous work of photographer Cassie Clayshulte, and the inspiration behind this particular photo shoot, we found ourselves walking into the most beautiful story.
This week, Cassie shared a series of photos of eight women, each with a blossoming baby bump, draped in dresses of white, blue, green and purple.
She explained: “In October of 2016, Hurricane Matthew struck the Lowcountry and forced a mandatory evacuation. Residents fled, and some sheltered in place while trees, homes, and property was destroyed.
“As our area cleared the damages, it became clear that though much was destroyed, eight beautiful miracles were created.”
The official photographer for a local hospital, Cassie knows that nine months on from a major community event like this, the maternity wards are usually pretty busy! This gave her an idea – she was going to do a very special photo shoot based around the life to come from the hurricane’s devastation.
Cassie, accordingly, went on Facebook and put out a shout for any ‘hurricane mamas’ to contact her.
“I am planning a group maternity session to show that BEAUTIFUL things always come from not-so-beautiful things,” she wrote.
Danielle Lewis, Lindsey Binkley, Taylor Pait, Lindsey Gullett, Brittany Day, Kayla Sumler, Savanna Dorsey and Molly Spears answered the call, and they are the gorgeous subjects in this beautiful ‘hurricane shoot’.
The shoot was held in May, with the backdrops chosen for a very specific reason. The mums-to-be posed in areas that had suffered particular damage during the hurricane, such as a local beach and woodland area.
The shoot was styled down to the very last detail, including the colours of the dresses; these are the colours of the hurricane that were visible on the weather satellites. Genius!
“These beautiful mommies-to-be are carrying little miracles made during Hurricane Matthew! Eight little miracles due this summer!” she wrote, sharing her work proudly.
Cassie will be doing a follow-up shoot this summer, with the bundles of joy, to bring the journey full-circle.
What a wonderful way to capture the beauty from disaster. We will certainly be looking forward to seeing the final instalment of Cassie’s photo shoot!
