Had I not created my whole world, I would certainly have died in other people’s.
-Anais Nin
Thanks to the beautiful new mom Alyssa for making two trips to the studio to make this profound statement on the beauty of motherhood possible.
It’s called Diastasis Recti, and I found out today it’s a separation of the abdominal muscles. It’s what happens when a woman’s abdominal muscles have to move so far apart to allow for pregnancy that her other internal organs are barely hanging on by a thread. Read more HERE.
And it makes her even more beautiful, powerful, and life-giving.
I always try to see what kind of mood I can get the images to portray, and sometimes it happens by accident. This time I got two.
This one seems to have a big of angst in it, as if she’s trying to tear away what’s holding her back.
And this one is just full of peace…
When you get to photograph a dancer… Brandi is 6 months pregnant in this photo, by the way.
Her first – due any day.
Longer than Holly’s been pregnant actually. That long for her to realize that she needed to see how beautiful she really is. The bathroom mirror was lying to her, you see. And so while we spoke frequently spoke of what they’d look like, Holly had a little trouble seeing in her own mind what they’d be. Because of that mirror and the obnoxious bathroom lighting.
But this is what Holly really looks like:
When I renewed the conversation she said, “But I’m big and pregnant!”
“That’s EXACTLY how I want to photograph you,” was my reply.
This is is probably my favorite image of the session. It gives the appearance of her floating, as if she were a cloud.
Tons of thanks to the volunteer model who said, “I want to do that paint thing!” at 8 months. A beautiful woman with a beautiful family.
And one without the paint, too. We made that photograph before the paint.
And the new daughter is now home doing well with the big brother/sisters.
It wasn’t very long ago that I did Elyssa’s senior pictures when she graduated high school. Now she’s about to become a mother for the second time. Makes a photographer feel old.
Cassie has been featured on Woman as Art before, and I was happy to have her here in the studio again this week.
She’s about 33 weeks along, and is expecting to see her new son in about 6 weeks. He will join a big brother and two big sisters. They all got in the action during the session!
Someone might question the pose in the 3rd photo – with basically Cassie sitting like a man. She did say it was quite comfortable, but the artistic vision behind this is: this is historically a pose of power – and what’s more powerful than bringing life into the world.
And that’s just another way that a woman becomes a masterpiece.
As often as I get a chance to, I use my camera to celebrate the beauty of pregnancy.
There’s something special about creating these images, even when the model elects to pose in a more modest manner, as is certainly her right to do. I speak with many women who seem ashamed of they way they look when they’re pregnant, when in fact they should be PROUD. Ladies I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – the mirror that you look at; the one you see yourself in daily – is lying to you. You are far more beautiful than what it shows to you.
I’m happy to say my camera and I have been a part of this woman’s life for several years. I photographed her wedding, both of her pregnancies, and her and her children several other times as well. I consider her a close friend.
Woman as Art 