French artist, Christian Berthelot’s
series, CESAR was inspired by the birth of his son during an emergency caesarean.
Through a six-month training and permission from parents, Berthelot was able to
shoot in a surgical environment during emergency C-sections. Personally, on his
first day in the surgical room, Berthelot, in a sense relived his own
experience when shooting these babies. The beauty of these images emerges with
knowing that these babies were captured at only a few seconds of being in this
world. Berthelot captures these babies at the purest moment of their lives, not
yet corrupted by the outside world. Further, for those who have not experienced
birth other than our own, Berthelot exposes the reality of what babies look
like when they are born, the image before the babies are cleaned and exposed to
the world. Additionally, the shapes of the babies’ body in which both the
doctor and the babies collectively form are captivating. The forms are authentic and unapologetic. With the use of the dramatic spotlight lighting,
these images are reminiscent of paintings depicting the carrying of Jesus. At
this point in life, these babies cannot hold themselves up and mimic the same
body language of Jesus as he lays limp in the arms of his people, particularly
seen in the image of baby Liza.
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