Motherhood by Marcie, But Make It 1997

Featuring the nostalgic and slightly rebellious maternity work of Unraveled Academy artist Marcie Jean. 🖤

Marcie has been part of the Unraveled Academy community since 2022, and watching her evolve into the artist she is today has been such an incredible thing to witness. Her work feels honest, emotional, cinematic, and completely her own — the kind of imagery that reminds you motherhood doesn’t have to fit into one perfect little box.

If you’ve been craving a photography community that offers both education and genuine support in one place, our door is always open for you. Explore courses, creative inspiration, connection, and a community of artists finding their voice together inside Unraveled Academy.

What was your inspiration for this shoot?

I’ve been super inspired by 90s editorial work lately. I love how they used flash to glamorize ordinary moments. I’d had this idea for a while of wanting to glamorize parts of pregnancy that are talked about, but always live in the background. Specifically, the crazy food cravings we get during pregnancy. So that was the first part of this session - making food + the eating of it the star of the show. The second part came from an inspo picture that Michelle (mom) had sent me. She is all things whimsical and crafty, so we really leaned into that with the bedazzling + letters on her belly. For me, the whole theme of the shoot was glamorizing the simple and ordinary parts of pregnancy. I think this was reflected in the styling (we just shopped their closets) and fun pops of color that came into play with the food and belly jewels/letters.

What gear did you use for this shoot?

Canon EOS R, 35mm lens, Godox V860II-C Flash

How were these images edited?

I used a mixture of RoBirkey and Phil Chester Presets, all edited in Lightroom CC

What advice or best technical tip would you give to new or aspiring photographers?  

I think it’s so easy to overlook the power of personal, creative sessions. Especially at the very beginning, we’re so eager to please and get experience that it’s easy to lose our creative vision simply because we’re always creating something for someone else. That drains a creative soul quick. So make sure you’re staying inspired by scheduling things just for you. Personally, I do my creative sessions for free because having any monetary value attached to it adds too much pressure. But I know plenty of people who do a discounted rate for their creative sessions. Whatever works for you to keep creating work that’s fun and inspiring - do more of that.

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