I met this lovely couple for an outdoor maternity photo shoot in the Stadtpark, one of the biggest and most famous city parks in Vienna. And although I saw them for the first time, after just a few minutes I got a feeling I had known these people for ages… It felt like having friends I didn’t even know I had.

During the laid-back photo walk, they shared a piece of their life story with me and told me about life in Japan – the country in which they had met and lived for a couple of years before they decided to move to Vienna. We walked, chatted and laughed. I listened to them with a great interest and delight as their story sounded so remarkable and gripping.

I photographed the parents-to-be how they happily walk together through the Vienna city park, how they stop to listen to the baby inside wriggling and kicking, how they kindly talk to their little treasure and gently touch the pregnant belly to let him know they are here for him. I photographed their joyful expectation and enthusiasm. Their smiles. Their love. Their tenderness.

And again, I felt blessed to be a family photographer who can see, feel and document all that. To be a photographer who creates honest and authentic photographs, capturing these simple but significant moments that are otherwise soon forgotten.