What inspired you to start this series?
There is something about the way a woman looks when she is carrying a baby...from the way she carefully maneuvers down the street, to the sweat on her brow from walking down the mall. I'm literally captivated by their beauty. When I worked retail I couldn't stop staring at these gorgeous woman with these gorgeous baby bumps. I didn't want to just take one session of this beauty at 30 weeks, and be done like what is typical of maternity pictures, but document the aches, the pains, the growing love of my child and my love for my unborn child week by week, sometimes day by day.
How did you first go about setting this up? Did you face any frustrations along the way?
When I first started documenting I didn't own a remote, and I also had a broken $9.99 tripod from Walmart in my linen closet. My husband isn't home much, and I didn't feel like waiting till 10pm every night when all my makeup was worn off from my 2 year, to ask him to take a picture which would end up being out of focus anyway. The only thing I could find that I didn't have to haul down the stairs was my glass coffee table, and one brown wall that was big enough for a backrop. I couldn't find anything sturdy enough or high enough to prop the camera onto when it had the speedlight attached, so I did the next best thing...soup pots. I stacked a roaster, and pots ontop of each other and voila..instant tripod. The next catch was I needed a focus point, so I hauled these branches I had in a vase, would set them up against the wall, press the timer button on the camera, quickly run and push over the branches, and smile:) Needless to say there were MANY Outakes of my waddling bum trying to knock over the branches and the camera getting that moment instead of the baby bump.
The Set Up!
How long did it take to get the right picture?
I would say I would take about 20-30 pictures each time for the progression pics. Either I thought my belly looked too fat, not fat enough, I didn't have enough of a jawline, looked too mad, my hair was in my eye..etc..
Did you get every week? What was your inspiration from week to week?
Some weeks differ, I did manage to get a pic every single week from 8 weeks on, except 40 weeks and 41 weeks for the progression. When I hit the 100 day left mark, I started taking a pic every single day that reminded me of what I was going through that day. Day 100 we painted our bellies in celebration of 100 days left, Day 98 took a picture of my husband and son painting my toenails because I could no longer reach. I did a picture by a big wooden cross and my mom painting my belly as an Easter egg on the week of Easter. The day I assembled the double stroller, took a picture of me reading the stroller instructions. When I no longer felt sexy and felt fat in my lingerie took a picture of my fat bat on the couch in my way too small lingerie. The week I was starting to get scared of letting go of just having my son, I took a picture of him clinging to my leg. Whatever I was feeling that week, craving, or wanting to feel, that's what gave me the inspiration for the picture so when Sierra would look back someday she would be able to see exactly what I went through with her pinpointed to the day.
Anything funny Brayden or your husband said along the way?
Brayden was quite hilarious the entire time of progression pictures. He would carry around my point and shoot and when his friends would come over, he would take out his camera and say " It's time for your belly picture" He took a lot of pictures of his own stomach and Russ's stomach. Every single day he promoted himself to "cocoa butter spreader child" and would spread my belly with cocoa butter. He was a riot, and I wish I could remember half the stories from him.
I had a lot of negatives comments thrown at me about how people were irritated with my 100 days left of pregnancy pictures, especially that I let other people see them.
I don't regret sharing those pictures with the world for a second, my only regret is that some people will never document that beautiful time of their life. There were days No I didnt want to put on that blasted black haltertop that the seams were busting by 33 weeks, or comb my hair and smile for that camera, some weeks I just wanted to shed a million tears when I would upload it and stare at the computer screen, at the bloated stranger staring back at me. My daughter is now 5 months old, and when I look at those pictures, I admire that woman who bared her belly and her soul for more woman to have the courage to do the same, and see a big belly as not something to hide, but be proud of. I no longer see the fat tired woman standing infront of that camera every week, but my beautiful Sierra ready to enter this world. I took these pictures for that unborn child, and for me documenting her beauty did not start on July 17th when she was born, it starts when she started transforming me, and I hope it inspires more woman to see maternity pictures and self portraits as much as of a necessity as the everyday pictures of your children growing up.
Collage by Natalie Allen.
