I, like many people, am many things. I am an artist; a woman, a daughter, a sister; and more recently a mother. My two young children have pushed me to see myself as a mother first, but it has come at a cost. I feel invisible in my own life. Invisible to my family, but most of all invisible to myself. I am a mother, slowly slipping away from who I really am. All of this has only been exacerbated by the Covid pandemic, as I am now spending more time than ever devoting myself to my children.

To express this feeling of invisibility, I took photos exploring Hidden Mother Photography, a style of photographs common in the Victorian era, in which young children were photographed with their mothers present, but hidden within the photograph. Hidden under a sheet or blanket, I become a structure, present only for stability and support, entirely devoted to the needs of my others. 

This is a work in progress series. 


All images and rights reserved,  Meg Farrell Copyright 2022