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The Importance of Maternity Portraits

Let’s face it, we women do not always feel very beautiful while we are pregnant. You are growing a human being and that can come with occasional swollen feet and feelings of anxiety and fatigue. The fact that you are growing a human being makes you so very special and absolutely stunning. This is all the more reason to understand the importance of maternity portraits.

Celebrating pregnancy and motherhood

This is a time to celebrate motherhood and pregnancy. You will not be pregnant forever, although it may seem like it! Even if you have additional children, this moment, with this child is unique and deserves a portrait. Love yourself and those big ankles.  Love that big tummy. Photograph them for all time.

black and white maternity portrait
Sometimes the best maternity portrait isn’t even about the bump.
One of my favorite quotes

“To be Pregnant is to be vitally alive, thoroughly woman and distressingly inhabited. Soul and spirit are stretched – along with body – making pregnancy a time of transition, growth and profound beginnings.” –Anne Christian Buchanan

Los Angeles maternity portrait by Leona Darnell
With meeting their baby is a few weeks away, this couple prepare for their world to change.

The Popularity of the Maternity Portrait

The importance of maternity portraits has led to their popularity. As a result of women becoming more empowered, the desire to document these moments has risen. Look at birth photography. That genre is still in its infancy really.

Pregnancy has been part of art for centuries, but mostly pregnancy is part of a story being told. “Among the oldest surviving examples of the depiction of pregnancy are prehistoric figurines found across much of Eurasia and collectively known as Venus Figurines“.

To read more about the history of pregnancy portraits, click here. If you are ready to celebrate with a maternity portrait, contact me today.