I’m happy to announce that the first 4 photo shoots have been scheduled. I’m very excited to capture the images and stories of these brave mommas! There’s still plenty of opportunity to participate. If you’re interested in participating, please visit the previous post Project Model Call to submit your information and I will get back to you asap with more details!
I’m looking for nursing mommas in the SF Bay Area who are interested in participating by sitting for a portrait of you nursing your little one. In exchange for your time and model release, I will deliver as a thank you, a digital copy of your portrait to cherish and remember this special time in your relationship with your child.
As a human animal, it is the most natural of things for a mother to take her hungry infant to breast for nourishment and comfort. In modern America, our hypersexualized, post-Puritanical culture has villainized female sexuality, and declared it improper and immoral for breasts to be seen. This has left mothers the target of condemnation, disgust, and ridicule for doing what they were meant to do: feed and nourish their hungry, precious babies. There is nothing inherently sexual about nursing a baby, and thus there is nothing that should be considered shocking or offensive, yet women are criticized, judged and expected to hide themselves when they are only trying to feed their babies the most perfect food created for them from nature’s perfect delivery system.
In a society where it is more acceptable to see a woman’s breasts on a movie or television screen than nursing a baby in public, the time has come to reclaim the breast for it’s original purpose within Western consciousness. It’s time to remove the stigmatization assigned to breastfeeding. It is silly that our society expect mothers, and the new lives they are trying to nourish, to go through ridiculous measures to protect others from witnessing the wholesome, nourishing, and comforting act of breastfeeding.
This project was inspired by the #NormalizeBreastfeeding conversation. As a mother who happily breastfed her three children, I want to help alter the perception of breastfeeding by creating portraits of women nursing their children. I want to keep the conversation alive and challenge the notion that breastfeeding is vulgar and scandalous by showing what it really looks like. I want to remove the stigma by highlighting the truth of the matter: breastfeeding is about mothers nourishing and bonding with their children in this mutually beneficial biological exchange. Breastfeeding is not shameful. It is not obscene. It’s beautiful and natural and I want celebrate this special time for mother and child one portrait at a time.
#NormalizeTheFeed
Normalize the Feed 