You Are Beautiful Being A Mom
"Poor moms – they don't see how beautiful they are just being moms." - Kirsten Lewis Bethmann (documentary family photographer)
I wrote about this last year, and think we are in need of a refresher!Recently I did a session giveaway to honor moms for this Mother's Day. As part of the entry, moms had to answer some questions for me. I asked about possible hesitations they have about documentary family sessions, and not surprisingly there were some concerns about how they will look in the pictures.
"No worries, really, except that I will look tired, old and fat, hahaha" - Anniina"That I'm too ugly for [a] session like this" - Stephanie"None except getting used to my new 'mommy body' " - Mona Liza
I feel so much for these women – why are we always so hard on ourselves? I'm guilty of the same thing, but maybe if I keep reminding you to be compassionate with yourself will change how I see myself in pictures.
I went walking with a Finnish friend of mine the other day, and we ended up talking about food and health. She was thinking back to some pictures of her from when they first moved to the US – and thought she looked so skinny! And then she made a comment about what good did that do for her really? She said she wasn't any happier then than she is now – in fact even then she wished she was skinnier.My point is, that real life photos are keepsakes for your kids, partners, friends – not something you necessarily blast on social media (though you might!). The people in your life that matter do not care what you looked like in pictures – because they don't care about that in real life either – they care about seeing the you they remember.
I went walking with a Finnish friend of mine the other day, and we ended up talking about food and health. She was thinking back to some pictures of her from when they first moved to the US – and thought she looked so skinny! And then she made a comment about what good did that do for her really? She said she wasn't any happier then than she is now – in fact even then she wished she was skinnier.My point is, that real life photos are keepsakes for your kids, partners, friends – not something you necessarily blast on social media (though you might!). The people in your life that matter do not care what you looked like in pictures – because they don't care about that in real life either – they care about seeing the you they remember.