"Live the Cover!" Contest: Spain

Great Travel Moment

I took this photograph of my sister looking out the window of the Karen Blixen House near Nairobi, Kenya. Outside, it was bright and hot and tropically overgrown, but inside the house it was cool and quiet, and full of dark wood. I had planned the trip to Africa over Christmas for myself, my sister, my mother, and my mother's sister, so that I could reconnect with the women in my family, and to celebrate recent milestones in our lives. I was hopeful that the trip would be full of individual contemplation, as well as good times together. I wanted to capture my sister in this quiet moment, poised between light and shade, and between singleness and motherhood. In the photo, she is seven months pregnant. You can't see her belly, but her body posture makes me feel as though she is on the brink of a new adventure, looking out for it. She looks calm, youthful, and beautifully feminine.