single motherhood

model: Kendal Romero

creative directed and shot by maia feruzi

tuesday March 4th noon

📍Chicago, il

shot on canon eos rebel t3i 18-24mm, 70-300mm

concept

“I love the idea of trying to get a collection of photos that capture the insane cacophony of being a free spirited single mother. I just bought my two bedroom, I'm an actor and a server going back to school to get my masters in social work, I've fallen in love, I'm deliriously happy and deliriously overwhelmed. I'm having some of the best sex of my life and my fridge is full of my daughter's pictures. I love to drink and dance but I'm filling in my bus commutes and little minutes with chores and auditions and job applications and budgeting and planning my daughter's life and it just all feels insane lol I'd love to show different sides of my life and how there's so many facets to it.” - Kendal Romero

This was a special shoot for me because the entire premise was based on telling a story and a true one at that. Kendal reached out to me after I posted in a Facebook group looking for new clients. I immediately loved her energy and her strong vision. She had a story she wanted to tell and I was thrilled to help her capture it. A Wong Kar Wai fan, Kendal was looking to capture the chaos of single motherhood and self discovery through the lens of a moody and cinematic documentary. She wanted the images to not only capture her physical body at this stage of her life but also speak to her current mindset and life experiences. Kendal opened her home to me and we went through the motions of what a typical day could look like for her; from disrobing after a night out to cleaning up the mess of her daughters room, moments of reflection and yearning in the living room, a solitary dinner of microwaved tortillas before some potential bedroom debauchery.

Kendal chose a simple little black dress for her going out look which I loved since it can speak to so many aspects of promiscuity as a single mother. The concept of a little black dress is that it’s a cute reliable number you can throw on at any time for almost any occasion and look good. It’s stable and consistent, slimming and simple, and should be a statement in every woman’s closet. If you think about those themes in line with single motherhood, you see how good a little black dress is to represent her blurred nights and stolen evenings of freedom. When it was time to switch to houseware to capture some of the other aspects of Kendal’s story we chose southern belle vibes with cut off daisy dukes and a button down to represent Kendal’s southern roots.

There were so many different emotions and themes about single motherhood that we wanted to express in this shoot. The loneliness, the power, the feminine sensuality, the mess, the intersectionality of an identity trying to find peace while constantly in motion; right up until it isn’t. I feel like what we captured was very raw, very real, and very relatable, and I’m so excited to capture more stories like this.