Parenthood exposed: Janine Bächle's honest photo book about motherhood

Parenthood exposed: Janine Bächle's honest photo book about motherhood

On October 31, 2025 the time has come: Offenbach graduate Janine Bächle presents her latest work, the autobiographical photo book “Becoming Parents”. This book gives an honest look into the reality of parenthood, far from romantic idealizations, and close to the challenges that mothers face every day. How op-online.de reports, Bächle addresses the often large discrepancy between social expectations and the reality of motherhood.

The idea for her book came about during her own pregnancies. Bächle wanted to create a counterpoint to the often idealized portrayals of parenthood that are propagated in social networks and media. She shows that not everything is sunshine, but that there are also issues such as anger, despair, exhaustion and pain that are part of parenthood. In her photo book, she impressively documents the physical changes that come with pregnancy, birth and motherhood.

A plea for mothers

“Becoming Parents” is not only a photo book, but also a powerful appeal for the achievements of mothers. Bächle wants to make mothers' care work more visible and break taboos surrounding female bodily functions. She describes breastfeeding as a time-consuming challenge that pushed her to her limits emotionally and physically. Her goal is to convey a realistic picture of parenthood that also includes less glamorous aspects such as lack of sleep and postpartum flow.

The art historian Joanna Wolfarth has written an accompanying text that complements the book. In addition to photographs, the work also contains poems and diary excerpts that underline the personal character of the book. The book production is supported by a Kickstarter campaign that runs until November 2nd.

Modern parenting in transition

Janine Bächle is not the only one who deals with the topic of parenthood. The term itself is complex and includes various dimensions such as biological, legal and social parenthood. How on Wikipedia As you can read, biological parenthood refers to the joint conception of a child, while legal parenthood includes rights and obligations that also apply to adopted children. Social parenting, in turn, includes responsibility for the well-being and upbringing of the child.

But the role of parents is currently changing significantly. Modern parenting is under enormous pressure because the well-being of the child is often defined by social expectations. A look at bpb.de shows that parents are increasingly required to act as educators, supporters and friends while meeting the demands of society. This development means that many parents are more concerned than ever about their child's well-being and are intensively concerned with their development.

Both the challenges and joys of parenthood are addressed by Bächle in her book. Her work offers an honest and genuine look at life as a mother and thus represents an important contribution to the discussion about parenthood in the 21st century.