Portraits of sleeping parents-to-be capture the most unguarded, intimate moments in the lives of growing families



Russian photographer Jana Romanova, 29, was inspired by all her friends falling pregnant

Captured 40 sleeping parents to be for 'Waiting' project - as there are 40 weeks in pregnancy


One photographer has captured her pregnant friends - and complete strangers - asleep in their homes for 'Waiting', a project exploring growing families.

'A couple of years ago, I suddenly noticed that almost all my friends were about to become mothers and father,' says Jana Romanova, 29, from St Petersburg, Russia.

'I wasn't really ready for this unexpected change in my life, because I couldn't imagine it without spontaneous travels and night talks about our amazing future,' she explains. Jana decided documenting the process might help her make sense of it.



Dmitry, Viktoria and their unborn daughter Katherina during the third month of pregnancy, Saint Petersburg, Russia, 2009-2011

'My favorite people were about to become real adults with a lot of responsibilities, and they all took the change in a very different way, acting like a happy family in public and sometimes crying in fear of the prospect when nobody was watching.

'I started photographing my friends, their friends and, in the end, people I don't know, in the most personal and intimate place - their bedroom - early in the morning while they were sleeping or drowsy.



'It's a time when people don't care about their appearance, being natural, and looking at the photographs I tried to understand what kind of roles a young man and woman play in their new family.'



The series of photographs of sleeping young Russian couples expecting a baby, dubbed 'Waiting', was shot from 2009-2011

As she wanted her photos to be as natural as possible, the photographer sometimes waited until five or six in the morning to get the perfect shot . The bird's eye view was achieved with Jana standing on a ladder, giving the viewer an intriguing vantage point.

Over two years, the photographer took 40 photos of 40 couples, with each picture representing a week of pregnancy.

In this way, Jana was able to capture feelings and emotions from all stages of pregnancy - from the moment when a couple realise their little partnership is expanding, to the very real prospect of a baby coming into their lives.



Photographer Jana Romanova achieved bird's eye view by standing on a ladder, for an intriguing vantage point

Maria, Pavel and their unborn daughter Varvara lie in bed in the early morning as Jana captures the intimacy of their home

'From when he hasn't yet realised he's going to be a father, and she is alone with the knowledge of the small life growing inside her, to the stage where he becomes a child himself - rejecting this new responsibility, and, after that, coming to a moment where he awakens and, slowly, they start to play equal roles in the process of waiting for their arrival,' as Jana describes it.



'They are waiting not only for a child to be born, but also for their entire life to be changed in 40 weeks.'

The early morning, Jana says, is the time when people don't really care about their appearance and one can see how they relate to one another

Jana captures the little lives growing inside their families in her project of 40 images (as there are 40 weeks in pregnancy)

These couples are waiting not only for a child to be born, but also for their entire lives to change

Jana's friends started getting pregnant and were about to become real adults with a lot of responsibilities, which inspired her to start her project

Subjects are all young Russian couples aged from 20 to 30, asleep or dozing, taken between 2009 and 2011 in Saint Petersburg and Moscow.

Jana Romanova was born in 1984 in Russia, and got a degree in journalism from Saint Petersburg State University. She won the PDN Photo Annual (USA) in 2011 and Photography Book Now by Blurb 2011 in documentary category. In 2011 she started teaching documentary photography at the Faculty of Photojournalists in Saint Petersburg.

Sometimes Jana's expectant friends would act like a happy family in public, but cry in fear when nobody was watching

All Jana's subjects are young Russian couples aged from 20 to 30

A serene Danila, Arina and their unborn daughter Daria are captured as the light seeps through windows in the early hours of the morning

Anastasiya, Dmitry and their daughter Varvara take rest on a large, curved sofa bed as it appears they may have watched TV the night before

She started photographing her friends but then moved on to people she doesn't know

Her portraits are captured in the most personal and intimate place - the subjects' bedroom - early in the morning while they were sleeping or drowsing