Chapter 1: Abstract

The premise of photography is capturing a single moment in time to be reflected upon at a later date. Often times these moments are those that we wish to remember and recall at a later time. Impacting moments in life such as pregnancy fall under the moments that a family’s life changes forever—a moment which society now embraces and captures through a lens.

The art of photography and the beauty of pregnancy are a recent match made in heaven. For many years, pregnancy was viewed as a part of a woman’s life and was not captured in a bountiful and beautiful manner. From medical textbooks to the front cover of a prominent entertainment magazine, Vanity Fair, the 1990’s began to see the progressive shift of the pregnant belly. Women soon began to embrace their swollen bellies and flaunt them as opposed to previously hiding it and covering it in over sized clothing.

This shift has laid the foundation for modern feminism as we currently know it in the world of the pregnant body and has furthered itself out to the near and distant future. Society has supported the indication that women should not be ashamed of their pregnant bodies and to be confident in knowing that she is still beautiful, if not more beautiful when bearing a child.