Glad To Be Off The Hook
Submitted by My Viewfinder Blog
No photo of mine today. Instead, my take on a photo topic that pops up from time to time. A young woman in my church who is expecting her second child talked to me Sunday about doing some pregnancy portraits of her. She told me about another photographer’s website she had seen that had some poses that she liked, but she wanted me to do the photography. She made it clear that she was not interested in any of the “bare belly” pregnancy photos that seem to be all the rage nowadays. That was a relief to me, because I’m not sure I’d be comfortable doing those kind of portraits.
It’s not that I’m a prude, but I just don’t understand why some women want to bare their bulging bellies to the general public during pregnancy. Do they really think people want to see that? And where does one display these portraits? On an end table in the living room? On a wall in the den? How about the husband’s desk at work? (”Hey guys, check out my wife’s belly!”) Oh yeah, there’s always the internet.
Of course, it was the Annie Leibovitz photo of a pregnant and bare-bellied Demi Moore on the August 1991 cover of Vanity Fair that started the craze. Leibovitz is famous for unconventional celebrity portraits that push the envelope of “normal”. The Demi Moore Vanity Fair cover certainly did that, causing a huge controversy at the time, and also leading to sky rocketing newsstand sales of that particular issue. It also redefined “normal” for pregnancy portraits, as variations of the “bare belly” portrait remain very popular almost 20 years later.
I believe there is an innate beauty and dignity to pregnancy and motherhood. There is something wondrous about the whole process of bringing a new human life into the world. I also still believe in modesty. The world doesn’t need to know or see every intimate detail of our lives. When a woman is in her eighth month of pregnancy, the situation is usually obvious no matter what she is wearing. Why can’t we leave it at that?
If a couple wants one of these more intimate and revealing photos for their own private photo collection, that would be fine. Preserving personal memories is one of the things photography does best. A photographic remembrance of this special time in a couple’s life might be well worth having. However, it seems that a large number of women who have these bare belly portraits made do it to share with the eyes of the world. Thousands of them end up in online portfolios for everyone and anyone to see. That’s the part I don’t get.
Am I saying that I would never do a bare belly pregnancy photo if asked? I’m not sure. Under certain conditions I might consider it. Or maybe I’d pass on it and let another photographer have the sitting. I’m just relieved that my friend from church didn’t put me in the position to have to decide.
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