PARTNER PROJECT
THE PROJECT
In 2018, VII Photo collaborated with UNICEF on its Child Survival Campaign to raise awareness about the million babies who die on their very first day despite the existence of simple solutions that can save them.
For this UNICEF commission, The VII Foundation conceived a concept whereby newborns in small villages and communities in Africa, South America, and Asia were photographed in the style of a formal studio portrait, the kind popular in high-income countries. Using studio lights and simple backdrops, babies were photographed in their mothers’ arms by VII Photo contributing photographer Ilvy Njiokiktjien, who trained specifically for the assignment with the leading baby portrait photographer in the Netherlands.
Njiokiktjien traveled to Peru, Mali, Mongolia, and Bangladesh in a logistically complex schedule to collect stories and photo and video portraits of mothers and their newborn babies. Each baby has their own story of survival that shows how solutions such as clean water, a tiny breathing mask, and breastfeeding helped save their lives and other babies like them.
A year later, in 2019, Anush Babajanyan revisited these babies as toddlers. The updated portraits reveal what a beautiful difference a year can make when mothers and children are given access to quality health care. This project started as a potentially challenging assignment on effectively educating about infant healthcare. It discovered a beautiful yet simple solution that resonated with the audience.
(Second from right) Mother Delgermurun Tsolomon, 32, holds her with her baby Sugarmaa, eight days old, outside her ger in the Alag-Erdene area in Mongolia on March 1, 2018. She is pictured with her husband, Batyargal Pureuyav, 33, and her son, Batyargal Bumbayar, 3, and her daughter, Batyargal Margadma, 4.
Massibiri Koné, smiling, cradles her 16-day-old baby, Malado Diarra, in her arms near a UNICEF-supported water point at the Community Health Centre in Koumatou. Mali, March 8, 2018.
One-day-old twins Foune Tangara and Wassa Tangara are cradled by their mother, Fatoumata Traore (hands visible), at the Reference Health Centre in Bougouni. Mali, March 7, 2018.
Mother Bayarmaa (30) with her baby Uuriin Tsotmon (2 weeks) in her living room in Murun, Mongolia, on the 1st of March 2018. Next to her are her daughter Gunjidmaa Nyambat (4) and grandmother Delger Chimid (61).
Hawa Diawara (foreground), 18, cradles her 24-day-old baby, Youssouf Sanogo, in her arms and smiles outside the Community Health Centre in Koumatou. “I was so happy when Youssouf arrived – he is my first baby,” Hawa said. Mali, 8 March 2018.
Fatoumata Traore, smiling, sits with her 1-day-old twins, Foune Tangara and Wassa Tangara, cradled in her lap, at the Reference Health Centre in Bougouni. A midwife, Assa Sidibé, stands smiling behind them, next to UNICEF-provided refrigerators containing vaccines. Mali, March 7, 2018.
Mother Sumona Akhtar Juthie, 21, holds her 47-day-old daughter Muskan alongside nurse Shipra Das, 22, in the SCANU at the Special Care Newborn Units (SCANU) of the Institute of Child and Mother Health in Dhaka, Bangladesh, February 17, 2018.
Mother Celia Virginia Flores Mamani, 37, holds her seven-day-old daughter, Priscilla Solamita Meza Flores, who was born at the health center in Yaurisque District and pictured with health promoter Adeláida Huaman Cruz (right) in the post-delivery room, Paruro Province, Peru, February 10, 2018.
Mother Tugszaya Chuluunbaatar, 25, holds her unnamed twin babies, both two days old, in the health center in Murun, Mongolia, on 28 February 2018.
Mother Kadidia Sangaré (37) holds her newborn daughter, Nahawa Kone, ten days old, at the Reference Health Center in Bougouni, Mali, March 7, 2018.
Mother Tugszaya Chuluunbaatar, 25, holds her unnamed twin babies, both two days old, in the health center in Murun, Mongolia, on February 28, 2018.
Sleeping 24-day-old baby, Youssouf Sanogo, is cradled by his mother, Hawa Diawara (hands partially visible), 18, at the Community Health Centre in Koumatou. “I was so happy when Youssouf arrived – he is my first baby,” Hawa said. Mali, March 8, 2018.
Mother Bayarmaa with her baby Uuriin Tsotmon, two weeks old, in her living room in Murun, Mongolia, on March 1, 2018.
