Don’t you just love when you rediscover things from your past in old storage boxes? That’s exactly what happened to 83-year-old photographer Ken Heyman when he came across a box called “Mothers” in his storage unit.

The dusty ol’ box was filled with just what you’d expect: hundreds of black and white photos of women with their children. The series was shot over 50 years ago for a book called Family that Heyman co-wrote with his close friend Margaret Mead. Aside from the (awesome) getups these matriarchs are sporting in these stunning snapshots, it’s almost like these were taken in present day and made black + white through an Instagram filter. If these photographs tell us anything, it’s that the essence of motherhood has not changed over the years.

One of the coolest parts about the vintage images is that they were shot all over the globe, starting in Bali. Since then, Heyman has taken photos for the series in over 60 countries, including Russia, Greece, Egypt, Ghana, El Salvador, Denmark, Morocco and Japan. Scroll down to take a peek at some of our favorite momma-child shots below:

This pic was shot in Brazil.

This beautiful moment was captured in Denmark in 1964.

This tyke was learning how to ride her trike in the U.S.S.R. in 1963.

Nope, that’s not a Brooklyn mama and baby, this was taken in the U.S. in 1968.

Egypt, 1974

Ghana, 1964

U.S.A.

Turkey, 1964

Italy, 1964

Somalia, 1982

U.S.A.

Czechoslovakia

Ghana, 1970

Hong Kong

What do you think of this photo series? Do any of these pics remind you of you and your mom, or you and your child?

(h/t Huffington Post)

Rachel Sumner
Rachel is a Contributing Editor at Brit + Co and the founding editor of lifestyle blog, SADIERAE + CO. While her background is in fashion and styling, she also loves all things creative, cooking, traveling, binge-watching TV shows and giving piggy back rides to her golden retriever, Louie.