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Melo Collective
Pregnant woman reclines with white painted characters and patterned borders across her belly and arm, wearing a gold and red floral headpiece

portrait · New York · 2025

What She Carried Forward

A maternity portrait created as a tribute to the women who came before, photographed in the final chapter before a son was born.

In memory of Mei

Opening

Memory and anticipation

Painted characters, a dragon fan, a paper lantern — one frame holding what was inherited and what was about to arrive.

Black-and-white image of a reclining pregnant woman holding a large paper fan decorated with a dragon over her painted belly

Chapter one

Tribute

Pregnant woman reclines with white painted characters and patterned borders across her belly and arm, wearing a gold and red floral headpiece

Closing

Continuation

Black-and-white portrait of a pregnant woman looking at the camera, hand resting on her painted belly beneath a paper lantern

Photographed in the weeks before her son was born — the last frames of one chapter, made in honor of the ones that shaped it.

Next story

Woman in a lace bodysuit sits composed in warm lamplight, sunglasses low on her nose, one hand resting on a pink balloon

Soft Celebration

An intimate portrait study shaped by celebration, softness, natural light, flowers, and self-possession.

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