Documenting your pregnancy: The rise of the pregnancy portrait

Throughout history and across cultures, societal views of pregnancy have varied greatly. The variation has spanned across a continuum with pregnant women being exalted and venerated at one end, and kept in hiding or camouflaged at the other end. In recent years, there has been a shift in Western culture to more readily embrace the beauty of the pregnant form. One manifestation of this is changes in maternity fashion, which have become more stylish and form-fitting. With this altered outlook, pregnancy portraits have gained increasing popularity.

The form of a pregnant woman has been the subject of art since the dawn of civilization. Many see a pregnant woman as the incarnation of exquisite beauty. Throughout the majority of history, portraits have been an extravagance reserved for the wealthy. Only in the last two centuries have portraits been available to the population at large. As technology advances, portraits have become increasingly artistic and creative, often portraying a particular emotion or capturing elements of the individual’s personality.

Pregnancy portraits offer a unique method of documenting the journey of pregnancy. Each woman who chooses to do this has many decisions to make with respect to how she is represented. Some like to include the father of the child in the portrait, while others prefer to remain alone with their unborn child. The attire worn in the portrait can heavily influence the mood of the final piece. Some women choose to pose nude, with varying degrees of modesty. Other considerations include black-and-white versus color, lighting concepts, poses, facial expression, and the use of artistic and digital effects.

The pregnancy portrait is highly personal in nature. It is quite a departure from the hackneyed family or school portrait with strained smiles and contrived poses. Most photographers will take numerous photographs, allowing the woman to experiment with a variety of elements. The woman is then allowed to choose her favorite proofs and have prints made from those. If an individual chooses to have their portrait painted, they will need to be more decisive upfront about what they want in the final product.