Photo by Warren Brant:

I thought I’d start my father’s photo series of my childhood at the beginning. Unfortunately, Facebook probably wouldn’t allow me to post the first photo my father took of me in the hospital with the umbilical cord still connected to my mother. I also didn’t want to stir another social media controversy by posting a picture of my mom breastfeeding me, so I chose to go with this naked photo of me instead.

In 1956 when I was born most fathers were not allowed in the room at the time of birth; most women were drugged during childbirth; and most babies were fed by bottle.

My mother has always been ahead of her time. In order to give birth to me naturally she first needed to convince her doctor to allow her to have natural childbirth, then she needed to teach the doctor how to do it.   Finally, my father needed to talk the hospital’s 1950s bureaucracy into allowing him and his camera in the room.

The photos are extraordinary.

*<[:o)