The Maternity Shoot

Rich has always wanted to do a maternity shoot, so last week we were delighted to welcome the stunning Holli B and her partner Lance (also a photographer) for a delightful shoot.

These are genuinely really nice people and the time just flew by. Holli was 7 months pregnant, and to be honest, she is braver than I was, because there’s no way I’d have travelled three hours for a shoot during any stage of my pregnancies, let alone in the third trimester.

Rich described this shoot as one of the best he’s done. The pictures came out beautifully, and there was a lot of real emotion visible in the images, particularly when Holli and Lance were looking at each other (real mushy!)

Some photographers would shy away from shooting pregnant nudes (or nearly nude), on the basis that they aren’t very attractive, sexually or otherwise. Rich thinks they are gorgeous (I agree), so we have been looking for some time for a model (with partner) for a maternity shoot. After many months of following up leads and fruitless attempts at persuading lovely ladies to pose for us, Holli (+ bump) was our first pregnant model, but definitely not our last.

Why is it that most models retire from modelling for nine months as soon as they become “with child” ? Having asked several, they said that they weren’t “commercially desirable” and they didn’t feel attractive, sexually or otherwise.

Why the hell not ? That’s what I want to know.

When I was pregnant my sex life was utterly fabulous. All those hormones and chocolate ! Granted the first few months aren’t so great (morning sickness is not an erotic experience) but after that, I discovered a whole new side of me.

I am always angry with the fact that our society behaves as though pregnant women are not allowed to be perceived as sexual beings.

To quote Laura Shanley

Strangely enough, however, pregnant women are often looked upon as asexual. Maternity clothes are generally designed to hide a woman's figure, rather than accentuate it. Tops are more apt to have Peter Pan collars than swooping necklines. Although the very fact that a woman is pregnant means that she has had sex, society tends to view her as anything but sexual. It's as if she is suddenly expected to stop being a lover and start being a mother - and a virginal one at that.

The problem with this line of thinking is that first of all, it's no fun, and secondly, it's unhealthy both physically and psychologically. Having sex and feeling sexual are crucial to a woman's sense of well-being. Pregnant women need to know and be told how beautiful they are - because, in truth, they are. Pregnancy, birth, and breastfeeding are integral parts of a woman's sex life. Accepting this fact will make all of them more pleasurable.

Here is a picture of Holli, Lance and Bump. Many more to follow…..