The Demi Moore photograph by Annie Leibovitz which appeared on the cover of the August 1991 Vanity Fair magazine was very daring at the time, in fact scandalous. However it sold out very quickly. But was it porn? Many people found it offensive and there were newsagents who sold it wrapped in white paper.
Before this time pregnant women were not photographed very often and certainly not naked nor semi-naked. Once pregnant, their bodies ceased to be ‘feminine’ in the desirable sense. Men stopped looking at them. In fact a naked pregnant women as I mentioned above, looked grotesque.
I illustrate here with photos of myself during my 4 pregnancies between 1969 & 1978 (I couldn’t find any on the net). I then found some photos taken during the 1980s. These were pre-Demi. These days they talk about ‘maternity fashion trends’ with women looking gorgeous, stylish and sensual. Clothes stick to the bump and enhance it. While I understand that these current photos are on a model, there would not have been maternity clothes modelled in the old days.
Leibovitz’s photo of Demi Moore changed the woman’s image of herself while pregnant. Once the Hollywood actors ‘got permission’ to show themselves during pregnancy, there was a huge change in the way pregnant women were seen by the rest of the community. One of Leibovitz’s comment’s was: ‘it’s gratifying that the picture helped make pregnant women feel less awkward or embarrassed about their bodies’.
After the 1991 Demi front cover, other female actors started appearing on the front covers of various magazines. I found a lot of front covers – many more than I expected!
All of this led to young pregnant women asking photographers to photograph them in a sensual way. Most don’t want to be fully naked but the suggestion of something sexy is there. They want to record their bump and they want to show that they looked pretty good during their pregnancy. They dress with clingy fashionable clothes. The whole image of the pre-Demi mums-to-be has changed.
This is the basis of the photographs which I have taken during this semester. They are part-portrait and part-fashion. They are not necessarily a visual representation of who the mums-to-be really are because there is probably no other time in their lives when they would pose semi-naked in front of a camera. It is their way of saying that while I was pregnant I was still a sensual female.
Post script: It is difficult to read the writing attached to the photos of me. What I said was that the 1976 photo with bare stomach showing was hidden under another photo in my album with just my head showing. I remember wishing that I hadn't lifted my top so I could display the photo properly. I would never have shown the photo to anyone as it was rude and unattractive.
References:
http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/features/2008/10/annie_excerpt200810
http://www.pregnancy-parenting.becomegorgeous.com/pregnancy_advice/maternity_fashion_trends-1567.html
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