Carmen Davies, of Studio ThirtyTwo, shares what it’s like to be a Heartfelt photographer

FEATURE STORY: A Rockhampton woman has been volunteering for the past four years as a Heartfelt photographer, taking photos of babies who have sadly passed away. Here she talks about what she does to help grieving families.

“They just look like they are sleeping, they look like absolute peaceful little angels.”

That’s how Rockhampton woman Carmen Davies sums up her work for the past four years, volunteering as a Heartfelt photographer.

Heartfelt is a volunteer organisation across Australia and New Zealand which offers photography sessions to families who have had stillbirths or seriously ill children who pass away.

The services are donated free of charge to the families and the organisation is funded by members, donations and supporters.

Ms Davies has suffered a miscarriage herself and it was this experience that led her to sign up as a Heartfelt volunteer.

“I knew about Heartfelt, but then in 2017 I lost a baby at 17 weeks and all I had was an ultrasound photo,” she said.

“After that I just felt compassion for everyone else that goes through it.

“Then I started researching Heartfelt and getting into it a little bit more and I found out they were after volunteers.”

Carmen Davies, of Studio ThirtyTwo, is a photographer based in Rockhampton.

In the time she has been volunteering, Ms Davies has done about 10 sessions in Rockhampton and Gladstone.

Each session was different, but still precious, she said.

“The one I remember well is one of the nurses was crying and I just lost it, everyone was crying,” she said.

When asked what it was like being in such emotional situations, Ms Davies said she tried to hold it together when doing a photography shoot.

“Don’t get me wrong, I have my moments and have breakdowns and stuff,” she said.

“I’m strong in the room, then I go to my car and I have my cry.

“I tell them I am sorry for your loss, I’ve been there, I understand what you’re going through.

“But it’s different every time - everyone processes grief really differently.”

Baby Seren by Heartfelt. (Image used with the kind permission of parents)

The sessions and the types of photos are completely led by the parents.

Some parents might also have keepsakes like teddy bears to be photographed with the baby as well, or clothes to get changed into.

“They just look like they are sleeping, they look like absolute peaceful little angels,” Ms Davies said.

“It’s just sad, you just get disheartened and you feel sorry for the families more than anything.

“I also think of my bub and what could have been.

“I want people to know it’s a service out there … they can have professional photos and they are printed for you as well.”

Ms Davies donates her time, photographs and editing and Heartfelt sends out a set of approximately 20 prints and the digital files to the families.

“I just volunteer because I want to, I don’t do it for gratitude or money, it’s just paying it forward,” she said.

“I just want to help people.”

The Heartfelt sessions are balanced with Ms Davies’ other photography work through her business, Studio ThirtyTwo.

“From Heartfelt to the birth, you get both ends of life,” she said.

“It’s just an honour to be part of anyone’s lives, even a wedding day … Capturing any of those moments.”

Birth photography is her favourite type of photography to shoot.

Carmen Davies, of Studio ThirtyTwo, loves to capture births, as in one of her photos here.

“If I could do full-time photography I would do birth, I love that,” she said.

“I am always just in awe of a woman's body, just what we go through, what pain we put up with, the strength, the determination, emotions, you go from one to the other … to capture all of that is pretty cool.”

The role does come with rough hours.

In her birth photography contracts, Ms Davies is on call for the two weeks before the due date.

“Three o’clock in the morning is the most common time for women to go into birth … You have your odd hours,” she said.

Ms Davies is “just like a fly on the wall” in the labour room.

“I’m just sitting there waiting, documenting their partner brushing their hair, giving them ice cubes … just those things you don’t remember,” she said.

“I’ve been in shower, massaging, been their labour partner, gone to get food and drinks for them.

“You completely forget everything the moment the baby comes out - it’s just capturing that emotion.”

A mother of two herself with daughters aged 25 and 21, last year Ms Davies got to capture her daughter giving birth.

“It was harder because she’s mine and I wanted to help her.”

To donate or find out more about Heartfelt, visit its website.