A time to remember – Photographer helps moms celebrate their pregnancy
Published 6:46 pm Monday, November 24, 2008
By Ryan Simantel
Water retention. Swollen ankles. Stretch marks. OK, so maybe being pregnant doesn’t sound like the ideal time to have your body photographed. But one Eastside photographer is helping local moms-to-be find the beauty in their bellies.
Beth Weinstein, a 1996 graduate of Mercer Island High School, specializes in maternity photography, a growing trend that has many pregnant Mercer Island women saying cheese.
“The experience was amazing,” says Island resident Alexis Rubenstein, who recently had her pregnant physique photographed by Weinstein. “And when I got the photos, I couldn’t believe how beautiful I looked. No hints of cellulite.”
No cellulite? Yes, Weinstein makes sure her camera captures the essence of pregnancy, not the details.
“I use a filter to create a softer look on the skin,” says Weinstein, who earned her photography degree from the Art Institute of Seattle in 2002. “But I also offer retouching after the photos are developed if needed. You don’t have to live with that spider vein or stray hair if you don’t want to.”
Weinstein has photographed more than 150 women in the comfort of her in-home Bellevue studio, a custom-built space that feels much more personal than corporate. One of Weinstein’s priorities is to make sure her third-trimester subjects feel comfortable.
Weinstein provides most of the clothes her subjects wear as they show a woman’s belly while still keeping the rest of her partially covered. Still, many of the moms-to-be prefer to wear something a little more familiar: their husbands.
“ … His arms can affectionately wrap around her body and cover her chest,” says Weinstein. “Having the husband there also gives the shots a stronger sense of family.”
Rubenstein’s husband, Grant, was included in her pregnancy photos for that reason. In fact, the couple went back to Weinstein a few weeks later to be photographed again, this time with their newborn boy.
“Many women bring their spouses along to be in some of the shots with them, and if the parents have other kids, they can jump in some of the pictures too,” says Weinstein. “It creates a real sense of family.”
It was, in fact, celebrity photographer Annie Leibovitz who first started the maternity photography craze after shooting a pregnant Demi Moore for the cover of Vanity Fair. Since then, Weinstein thinks people have become more accepting of pregnant women’s bodies.
“Women aren’t hiding their bellies anymore; they are celebrating them,” she says. “Women are realizing there is a certain amount of beauty in being pregnant.”
Alexis Rubenstein feels that way. In fact, she finds so much beauty in her pregnancy photos that she has them hanging where everyone can see them.
“I have two framed ones in my house, and I also put a bunch of them in family photo albums,” she explains. “I really can’t get enough of them, but it’s not like I’m going to order a poster-size one or anything… yet.”
