Holding Emmanuelle, 2008. © Elinor Carucci/Courtesy Edwynn Houk Gallery, New York

Why can’t you be nicer to your brother? 2012. © Elinor Carucci/Courtesy Edwynn Houk Gallery, New York

Israeli-born, NYC-based photographer Elinor Carucci’s Mother is an intimate and powerful document of her transition from pregnancy to motherhood, begun almost a decade ago when she was pregnant with her now nine-year-old twins. Turning the camera on both herself and her children, Carucci bares it all in rich and dramatic images that depict a myriad of emotions and realities—the highs and lows, the pure joy and equal difficulty of raising kids. Honest and unflinching, Carucci poignantly follows her little ones from baby to toddler to children with developing personalities, revealing not just her own complex experience of motherhood, but a universal one as well.

Mother was recently published by Prestel, and is currently on view at Edwynn Houk Gallery through May 3, 2014. Carucci is represented by INSTITUTE.

Love, 2009. © Elinor Carucci/Courtesy Edwynn Houk Gallery, New York

Dragging, 2010. © Elinor Carucci/Courtesy Edwynn Houk Gallery, New York

Eden peeking, 2008. © Elinor Carucci/Courtesy Edwynn Houk Gallery, New York

Daydreaming, 2010. © Elinor Carucci/Courtesy Edwynn Houk Gallery, New York

Bruised mouth, 2007. © Elinor Carucci/Courtesy Edwynn Houk Gallery, New York

Emmanuelle having her hair cut, 2007. © Elinor Carucci/Courtesy Edwynn Houk Gallery, New York

Fight, 2008. © Elinor Carucci/Courtesy Edwynn Houk Gallery, New York

Brushing hair, 2010. © Elinor Carucci/Courtesy Edwynn Houk Gallery, New York

Angel’s hair, 2008. © Elinor Carucci/Courtesy Edwynn Houk Gallery, New York

The Woman That I Still Am #2, 2010. © Elinor Carucci/Courtesy Edwynn Houk Gallery, New York