About Marieke
Birth photographer · Award winner · Founder of The Scottish Birth Network · Based in Glasgow, Scotland
Hello
I'm Marieke(she/her),
Mar-ee-kah , and I've been waiting to meet you.
I was born in the Netherlands, hence the name, but Scotland has been my home for years now, and I can't imagine being anywhere else. The history, its people, the particular quality of light on a grey Scottish morning, I love it all!
I always imagined myself in the world of birth. I once thought that meant becoming a midwife. Life had a different, and truly beautiful, path in mind.
In 2020 I photographed my first birth. I stepped into that room with my camera and everything clicked, in every sense of the word. I have been completely hooked ever since.
The Work
Birth photography is still relatively new in Scotland. I've been doing it since before most people knew it existed here.
Since 2020 I have documented births across the Central Belt: home births, hospital births, elective caesarean sections, water births, fast labours and long ones, planned births and births that took completely unexpected turns.
I am one of only a small number of photographers in Scotland who specialises in birth documentation. In 2025 I was awarded the Silver Award at Birth Photographer of the Year, the first Scottish photographer to receive this award at that level.
2020
Year of first birth documented
3
International BPOTY awards
1
The only Scottish Silver Award winner
How I work
I don't just show up and take photographs.
Every family I work with goes through a preparation process that begins months before their birth. I learn their birth plan from front to back, attend their maternity session, and become someone whose presence in their birth space feels completely natural before labour ever begins. This is The Familiarity Method, and it is why clients tell me afterwards that they forgot I was there.
That depth of understanding carries into everything else I photograph too. Because I know what families are really going through in the weeks before and the days after a birth, my approach to maternity and newborn photography is different. I'm not just creating beautiful portraits, I understand the emotional landscape of that season, and it's in every photograph I make.
I'm also proud to be mentoring photographers in Scotland and internationally who want to specialise in birth documentation: helping raise the standard of this work beyond my own practice.
Recognition
The awards mean something. Not because of the trophies, because of what they say about the work.
2024
Commended
Birth Photographer of the Year, Exposing Birth
2025
Commended
Birth Photographer of the Year, Exposing Birth
2025
Silver
Birth Photographer of the Year, Scotland's first Silver Award winnerFounded by Marieke & Aurelija
The Scottish Birth Network
In 2026 I founded The Scottish Birth Network together with Aurelija from Good Times Birth. A professional community for birth workers across Scotland. It brings together birth photographers, doulas, midwives, hypnobirthing teachers, and birth professionals in a space built on shared values: informed birth, supported families, and work done with genuine care.
It is the only network of its kind in Scotland. Building it has been one of the most meaningful things I have done alongside my photography work.
The Scottish Birth Network
Founded 2026 · Glasgow, Scotland
The only network of its kind in ScotlandOutside the birth space
A little more about me.
When I'm not behind the lens you'll find me on a dance floor, deep in a video game, waiting for my sourdough to prove, or out on a hike somewhere in Scotland with my partner Dawn and our dogs Bramble & Nevis.
If you want to keep up with what I'm doing, follow along on Instagram. I share the work, the behind-the-scenes, and occasionally the sourdough.
Ready to Talk?
Let's find out if this feels right.
The best way to know whether I’m the right photographer for your story is to have a conversation.