Sara Morgenroth

The work I’ve done with Sara has been an eye-opening experience for me. Being in my 20’s myself, I can’t even begin to imagine being this age and having a husband and two children. Both shoots I’ve done with Sara, I’ve stayed a day and night to get the full picture of the lives and schedule of the family. Within this time frame, I was completely engulfed in the situation and found it so fascinating to be able to photograph ‘a day in the life’. It’s really an amazing thing to spend every moment in a life that’s so different than yours.

During my first shoot with Sara, the entire situation was a lot different than when I visited for the second time. The fist shoot, Sara and Cody were engaged and living in Sara’s parents house with her parents and brother. Her son Markus was three and Sara had another baby on the way. When I came for the second time, less than a half a year later, Sara and Cody had moved out on their own, into a small basement apartment and were taking care of Markus and the new baby, Mason.

The first visit, I had recorded interviews with Sara and planned to possibly make a multimedia piece out of it. Even though this video isn’t what I would show as ‘example work’ for my multimedia skills, it’s still the first video I put together that I was relatively proud of. Thus, I think I’ll post it! The interview is very compelling........... but it’s the last time I don’t double check a dehumidifier isn’t going to turn on half way through. Lesson learnt :)
Side Note: This was also the first interview I’d done where one of my questions brought my subject to tears. I had a hard time dealing with it behind the camera because I naturally wanted to stop taping and hug her. 

“We’re getting married March 26th, and then in May we obviously have baby Mason coming”

“I am one of those typical teens that thought being a mom would be so easy, and it’s just  not. I dropped out of school for two years, I just now decided I need to go back and get my education, and I can’t just live the way I’ve been living.”

“My mom was there when Cody and I had our rough spots... we were 15 and becoming parents, we had no idea what to do. We obviously had our ups and downs that normal couples do, and then the added stress of becoming a parent." 

“But when we were going through our rough times, her [Morgenroth’s mom] support through the last three, four years now... like there’s nothing I can possibly do to show her how much I’ve appreciated what she’s done for me. I went into a really dark place after Markus turned two, and if it hadn’t been for her, I honestly don’t even know if I’d still have custody of my son.”

“It’s a big wake up call, just to how valuable life is. You don’t understand how valuable life is, until your heart’s suddenly walking outside of your body and just one scream, and you drop whatever you’re holding and you’re gone into the next room to find out what’s wrong.... It’s not for the faint-hearted that’s for sure.”