Professional photographer Jing-Ling Kao-Beserve (BSc 1999 Innis) doesn’t like defining herself with one label. “If I had a sentence to introduce myself at a cocktail party I’d say that I’m a photographer, a visual problem solver, and a mother.” She photographs weddings, engagements, events and portraits of people and pets. “I enjoy the challenge of making an image and preserving the moment forever,” she says.

Peer pressure facilitated Kao-Beserve’s introduction to photography. “It all started in high school when my best friend dragged me out to Camera Club,” she says. The same friend convinced her to join the rugby team in Grade 12. Kao-Beserve now describes the sport as one of the great loves of her life – photography and her family are the others.

Kao-Beserve and her husband welcomed a daughter in June of 2009. This photo shoot was impromptu. “Both Fred and I were getting over the giddy part of new parenthood and entering the tired, reality-check stage. But the light coming in from the window that day was so perfect that I had to take advantage of it,” says Kao-Beserve.

The photos of five-day-old Amira were a big hit with family and friends, reducing some of them to tears. “I never understood what the big deal was until recently. Now that my ‘baby’ is a walking, talking, toddling miniature adult, I have come to appreciate the fleetingness of infancy,” she says.

Visit Jing’s website