POLLY BRADEN
with words by Sally Williams & Claire-Louise Bennett

Overworked, under-appreciated and often vilified: it's hard being a lone parent in a society still geared to a two-parent family.

And yet one in four families are single parent households. Around 90% are headed up by a single mother.

In the summer of 2019, Polly Braden, a single parent herself, started to document the day-to-day reality of what it means to be a single parent in the UK.

From one mother’s resourcefulness in converting a sitting room into a bedroom, creating a special space for her child to thrive, to the loneliness of being sole earner, teacher, playmate; Polly puts the distinctive culture of solo parenting under the spotlight.

Holding the Baby is a powerful collection of portraits; a moving expression of  stoicism, anger, exhaustion, pride, compassion and love.

Softback with jacket
56 colour and b&w photographs
96 pages, 240mm x 170mm
ISBN: 978-1-911306-79-5