Oct. 2005

Pregnant Poses
by Tanya Barrientos

There's a baby boom, of sorts, in family photography, as expectant mothers have portraits made in near-full-term glory.

You look at Heather Gasser and you think, of course she's doing this. At 31, and eight months pregnant, the Phoenixville woman looks like Reese Witherspoon with a couple of extra pounds. Her baby bump is firm, smooth and small. Her ankles do not resemble snow tires. Her skin is free of stretch marks.

So you tell yourself, that's why she's sitting in her townhouse in navy blue shorty pajamas on a Tuesday night, beside her husband, Brad, waiting for a professional photographer to come and take an artsy, seminude maternity portrait of her. But you're wrong.

The truth is, it wouldn't make a bit of difference to the Gassers if Heather's body were less than gorgeous. Because to them, and hundreds of other couples who have made pregnancy photography a burgeoning trend, it's the documentation of their baby's development that matters.

Making maternity portraits has become a new step expectant couples take sometime between the baby shower and the blessed event.

Show the tummy. Stroke the tummy. Click. Click. Click.

Bulging-belly shots have become so popular with the nine-month crowd that J.C. Penney has started offering sittings for as low as $20, and art photographers, such as Kristen

Kanze, who came to the Gassers' home in late September, have endless client lists.

"Part of it, I think, is that people my age aren't all hung up about showing their belly," Heather said, as Kanze set up her equipment in the living room. "I was at the Shore this summer wearing a bikini."

With soft classic rock by Simon & Garfunkel playing on the stereo, Heather and Brad stepped in front of the bright studio lights and the black backdrop, ready for their close-up - she in her two-piece, he in jeans and a long-sleeve shirt.

"OK, turn your head," Kanze told Brad as she looked through her viewfinder. "Do what's comfortable, like you're hugging her and the baby from behind." He set his chin on his wife's shoulder and they both gazed down.

"Good," Kanze murmured, snapping a few frames. "How are you guys feeling? Are you comfortable?"

Heather rubbed her husband's hands.

"Can you lace your fingers together?" Kanze asked.

It's impossible to look at any maternity portrait these days and not connect it directly to actress Demi Moore's groundbreaking Vanity Fair cover photo published in August 1991.

That picture, taken by celebrity photographer Annie Leibovitz, broke the barrier. And now, women across the nation can find their own private photographers on the Internet, or pick up brochures about maternity photography at their nearby baby furniture store, or even in the waiting rooms of their doctors' offices.

"Can you imagine our moms and dads doing this?" Kanze asked. "It wasn't too long ago people didn't even use the word pregnant , much less show it. I mean, Annie Leibovitz just blew down those doors, and suddenly being pregnant was seen as attractive."

Kanze started her portrait photography business (www.kristenkanzephotography.com) about a year ago, specializing in maternity sessions. For $250 - $300, she will come to a couple's home and spend two hours taking pictures. Fully clothed. Seminude. Nude. Whatever the clients prefer.

"I love doing it," she said. "I watch these couples start out sort of nervous and after they get used to me being there, it just becomes about them and their baby."

California photographer Andrea Cimini's work (www.andreacimini.com) is in such demand locally that she flies to Philadelphia from Los Angeles several times a year to conduct shoots.

"Every time I turn around, I'm getting a call from somebody in Philly," said Cimini, who grew up in Penrose Park in Southwest Philadelphia. "I'd say about 80 percent of my clients are pregnancy portraits."

Many are older mothers who have waited to have a family or have struggled to get pregnant, and want to celebrate every stage of their baby's development, Cimini said.

Debi Jaye of Glen Mills, who is expecting her first child at 37, chose Cimini to take her picture. Jaye, a professional model and actress, said she and her husband, Edward Morgan, wanted "something soft and romantic."

"This whole thing is such a miracle, to be able to have a baby," Jaye said. "I wanted to preserve the image."

Montgomery County photographer Karen Carey (karencareyphotography.com) said requests for maternity portraits have increased dramatically over the last three years. "I'm a children's photographer, so for me it's a great part of the story of the baby. I try to be very artistic and make it more than just a shot of your belly," she said. "I only do maternity sessions in conjunction with newborn sessions, because to me the story is about the child."

But it's also about body image. And women's acceptance of themselves at a time when it's easy to feel frumpy.

"There are two types of pregnant women, the ones who will want to do this, and the ones who won't," Cimini said. "Nobody's on the fence."

Heather Gasser agreed, saying that, when she told her friends she was posing for a pregnancy portrait, half of them grimaced.

A spokeswoman for J.C. Penney said the portraits taken at the department stores' studios offer an alternative to women who are shy about disrobing.

"We don't allow nudity, but we can get a nice shot of the husband or the child leaning against the belly," said Daphne Avila, from the company's Texas headquarters.

Still, many women who decide to pose choose to show themselves in full.

"It's definitely a confidence issue," Heather Gasser said. "Once you make up your mind, you might as well just go for it. Personally, I think everybody looks beautiful pregnant. But that's just me."

About an hour into Gasser's photo session, she slipped off her bathing suit top and lay on top of a black blanket Kanze had spread on the floor. Heather wrapped her arm across her chest and then bent the leg closest to the camera.

"I'm going to be working with the shadows here," Kanze explained. "Very tight. Lift your chin a bit, so the light hits your neck."

Christy and Dan Smith of Collegeville, whose daughter, Riley, is now 5 months old, said the more revealing photos Carey took of Christy now hang in their bedroom.

"I'm totally comfortable with them, and I'd put them up anywhere in the house," Christy, 31, said. "But I'm not sure everybody in the world wants to see them."

Photographers say most couples ask them to create an album of private photos for themselves, and separate albums of the tamer shots to share with family.

"My mom has looked at the proofs, and it's something," Dan, 28, said with a chuckle. "Some people might get a little uncomfortable, but I think it's a unique time and I'm glad we captured it."

Cimini believes maternity photography will soon become so commonplace that nobody

will think twice about posing for a prenatal portrait.

"It's not a passing fancy," she said. "I mean, when J.C. Penney is doing it, it's here to stay."