Meredith Graham's Posts
Naked Babies
Over the past weekend friends of ours asked my husband to take both a family portrait and a nude baby portrait of their five-month old baby. We set up a studio with professional lights in our living room, and I had the job of photographer's assistant, making lots of funny faces and kitchy-kitchy coo noises to get the baby to laugh. When I was discussing this with another friend (who does not have a baby) she thought five months was "on the old side for taking naked baby pictures". How interesting to consider: how old is too old for naked baby pictures? I seem to recall seeing a couple of pictures of me in the bathtub, up until perhaps, two years old. Musing about it now, that seems completely fine to me.
There is something so innocent and beautiful about a nude baby sleeping on a parent's chest. Or a newborn baby cradled in a parent's arms. Online there are galleries with beautiful artistic photographs of naked babies. Even my favorite Newsweek author, Anna Quindlen, has a book, Naked Babies. Obviously people agree that it is both artistic and acceptable when a baby is very small to do nude photos. I also noted that all of the photos I saw (including the ones we took over the weekend) strategically positioned the baby to cover his private parts. Even if the baby doesn't care about being modest, obviously we, as a society, do care. At some point, however, even with the modesty, it isn't acceptable anymore. At what age is it no longer culturally acceptable? Perhaps some people believe it isn't acceptable at any age? Some cultures believe full nudity is acceptable at any age. I can think of pictures I've seen from tribes in South America and Africa, where people don't have the same perceptions of nude as we do. I wonder about why this is the case, and how different societies have evolved to have different perceptions.
I think the only catch with our photoshoot over the weekend was the fact that while naked, the baby took the opportunity to pee. I guess that is what babies do!
Comments
Posted By: Heather (7/6/2007)
Comment: I realize this thread has been inactive for a while, but I was just thinking about this subject this week when I was photograping my 1 and 2 year old babies in the tub. We had lots of bubbles covering their bottoms, but the bubbles didn't cover my 2 year old daughter's top. I wanted to share the photo with our family blog but I wasn't sure how the "world" would feel about a naked baby photo at this age. It is unfortunate that we have to worry about such nonsense. I agree that not until they start conceptualizing their own bodies as private then it becomes "too old".
Posted By: Mariruth (11/10/2006)
Comment: Being modest and reserved are positive characteristics which should be cultivated within children. Teaching a child about how their nakedness and body is only theirs and not to be shared with just anyone is an important lesson (especially to avoid issues regarding shame or low esteem). So, therefore, I think it would be inappropriate to take a naked picture of a child once the have begun to comprehend the idea of a personal or private self. When do I think that age is? I think between 3 and 4 years old is when that concept starts to emerge.
Posted By: Robbin (11/8/2006)
Comment: When I was the photographer on a mission trip to the Dominican Republic, I was a little startled to catch a few naked toddler pictures - little boys walking around with only their sneakers on amidst all the other kids. The local doctor told me that is the way they are toilet trained. Once they are too old for diapers, they walk around starkers until they have sufficient control to wear "real" pants. And you're right, it's no big deal there, just a cultural and economic thing.
Posted By: Barbara (11/4/2006)
Comment: Seems to me that as long as someone is a baby then naked baby pictures are perfectly appropriate.
Posted By: Lori (11/2/2006)
Comment: Meredith, I think your slight case of paranoia comes from the society we live in. There are so many things to protect your children from that it makes you worry that a nude picture of a 5 month old is unacceptable. That is sad. The truth of the matter is that a baby is a beautiful gift and should be treasured any way you see fit. Some of my favorite pictures of my kids are ones when they were babies and naked. They are so pure and innocent how could anyone read anymore into than that? Obvioulsy your friends think highly of Mike's artistic ability and thought he would capture a timeless keepsake. I for one, agree. One day I hope you will be taking one of your own beautiful naked baby!!
Posted By: Meredith (11/2/2006)
Comment: V- Thanks for the assurance that 5 months is cool for naked baby pics. K- I love pictures of a baby sleeping on his Dad's chest. So peaceful!! A- Well, these were our close friends, so I wouldn't call them strangers... I just didn't think he seemed too big. He wasn't talking or even crawling much(well, he did a sort-of commando-style crawl occasionally). I think you're right about the artistic take and the smaller the better for that. For example, a tiny baby in a parent's hands, sleeping. It really gives you a sense of size, when you have a reference like a parent in the picture.
Posted By: http:// (11/2/2006)
Comment: I think what I meant was that 5 months old was too old for a professional photographer to take naked baby pictures. My mother definitely has naked pictures of me at 2, 3, and maybe even 4 years old. Those bathtub pictures are timeless. I guess I personally don't feel comfortable photographing a stranger or acquaintances naked 5 month old baby. Of course i've only photographed 2 babies, one which was 5 months, and the other which was 10 months. To me, the babies just seemed too big and had to much of a personality for me to feel comfortable with them being naked. It just didn't seem very cute anymore.. They were big babies! I did meet the 4 month old baby when he was much younger, and at that time he wasn't doing much besides eating, sleeping, and pooping. He was also really tiny. At that time the artistic "naked" baby picture seemed really adorable. But at the older age, it just didn't appeal to me. That's my take.
Posted By: Kendall (11/2/2006)
Comment: My wife is a scrapbooker. She has a beautiful picture of me sleeping with our first born asleep nude atop me. (He is now 21 and 6'4".) He is cool with the picture. He always was a Daddy's boy. My favorite is of both sons in the tub together smiling wildly amid a flotilla of toys.
Posted By: Vera (11/2/2006)
Comment: Five months is definitely NOT too old for a naked baby shot. Why, in my Kodak office I have a photo of me holding my unclothed firstborn at eight months (much to his chagrin when he comes to visit me). I even tried to take a monthly shot of my kids in the flesh as they were growing their first year - "tried" because sometimes I forgot a month. I don't have these pictures on display, but they are a precious record of my now self-conscious teens!