When my daughter was sleeping, it was my daily routine to make sure that she was breathing.
The fear of loosing her has persistently haunted me. I experienced the bleeding on the eighth week of my pregnancy. I was hospitalized for three times, and was strapped to bed for ten months before she was delivered by Caesarean section. I have not seen the umbilical cord - a proof of bonding - that connected me to my daughter.
At the age of three, she grew to be eighty-seven centimeters tall and thirteen and half kilograms in weight. My arms were not strong enough to hold her, so I let her run freely. I was watching her every steps, worried that she might fall and get hurt. After a while, I realized that I was seeing things from my daughter's eye level. What seemed to look ordinary from the height of one hundred fifty-five centimeters adult looked like “jewels” from the height of eighty-seven centimeters child.
I took photos of her “jewels” on ever occasions with a feeling of strong connection with my daughter. The more I shoot photos to become connected with her the more it reveals that my daughter and I are different individuals.
She is three years and eight month old now, and she calls shiny or beautiful and important items, “jewels” but for me, she is a "jewel."


Miki Hasegawa is a photographer based in Kanagawa.
To view more of Miki Hasegawa 's work, please visit her website