The photography for A Village of Mothers was never meant to look like advertising photography. It was meant to feel like a memory.

Because the women in this campaign are the women many South Africans remember from growing up: the grandmother whose hands were always busy, the aunt who was always there, the neighbour who somehow knew when you needed feeding, comforting or correcting. They may not have been our mothers by blood, but they were part of the village that raised us. That meant photographing care as it actually happens. Not posed smiles or moments created for the camera, but the little things that make a relationship feel real. The photographer, Kgomotso “Neto” Tleane, worked with that same observational instinct as the film, allowing moments to unfold rather than directing them into existence. This resulted in photography that feels less like a portrait of motherhood and more like a glimpse into someone's childhood. He chose to shoot the stills for the campaign on film, which added another layer to that feeling. There was something inherently nostalgic about the process itself: fewer frames, less checking, more patience. We had to wait for the moment between the woman and child to happen naturally. The decision to shoot in black and white brought that nostalgia even closer. It strips away the polished, pastel world so familiar to baby formula advertising and leaves us with texture,
faces, hands and emotion. It makes the images feel like they could belong to an old family album. Because that is ultimately what these photographs are trying to capture: not the idea of a perfect mother, but the many women whose small acts of care become part of who we grow up to be.