meredith & steve & monroe | newborn portraits at the National Gallery of Art
I have known Meredith and Steve for almost ten years now. We met during my first full wedding season in 2017, after Meredith reached out to me to photograph their elopement—or, perhaps characterized better, an intimate and simple day deeply resonant with their delight, devotion, and dedication in and to each other. Their wedding day began with sharing pizza in a small hotel room in DC, after which they exchanged vows in a corner of Union Station—the train station where they always met each other in many homecomings throughout their long-distance relationship—and celebrated their union with portraits in their favorite art museum, the National Gallery of Art. It is a day that I have never, and will never, forget.
Since then, I have had the honor of photographing Meredith and Steve twice more: once, in the aftermath of the pandemic, for a sweet portrait session back at Union Station, and now with their newborn daughter, Monroe, back at the NGA. I cannot express how special it is to have met these two (now three) over again in these spaces; it is almost impossible to put words to the feeling of time collapsing and a client/friend relationship bridging it all. I am, truthfully, overwhelmed with the honor of it, and would be lying if I said I did not blink away tears multiple times while editing our session.
We began our newborn shoot this past August in the West Wing of the NGA, exploring its grand staircases and lush interior courtyards before entering the Impressionist galleries. (Truly, this family is one after my own art history heart!!!) The Van Goghs, Monets, and renoirs here are favorites of Meredith and Steve—and mine, of course—and it was truly something else to witness them show their daughter these paintings, which also hold memories of their wedding day portraits. (We photographed Meredith and Steve themselves in front of these exact paintings in their marriage attire almost ten years ago.)
We then passed through the glorious starlit tunnel between the NGA buildings (Multiverse, by Leo Villareal) and into the atrium of the East Wing, where we recreated again a few of their wedding portraits now with their daughter: walking beneath the monumental Franz Kline work that stretches across the wall on the bottom floor, and nestling into the angular light-filled staircases and escalators of the building. The way that the sunlight illuminated these three as they moved through these spaces was nothing short of magical, and some of these portraits strike me right in the chest for their resemblance to something otherworldly, sacred, and holy—ways of being that, I hope, speak to the essence of Meredith and Steve and Monroe together.
Meredith and Steve, your tender love for one another, the depth of your devotion to experiencing the world, and your quiet and powerful empathy and grace reverberates in the way you care for your beautiful daughter, and this was a gift to witness and document this past August. I care for you both more than i can possibly say, and i cannot wait to see how your family continues to blossom. love you, love you, love you!