<p>A friend of mine posted pictures of his newborn from this photography studio, and I was utterly creeped out by the pictures. Can’t say anything on FB because I don’t want to hurt his feelings, but the site is here (he put up a one of his D in the one of the head-in-hands as if thinking poses featured on the website.) It might be me, as his picture is getting all sorts of likes, but I think these are really bizarre.</p>
<p>A few of them look uncomfortable but not harmful. I don’t think any are creepy. I probably wouldn’t have done these kinds of photos with my kids though.</p>
<p>I think the newborn pictures are a bit creepy too, but I don’t like posing babies so they look like flowers or whatever anyway. The older babies who are awake are fine. </p>
<p>I see these kinds of pictures all the time. My peers haven’t yet started having kids, but my mid-30’s sister and her set do these kinds of shots all the time. I never tought of them as creepy until you mentioned it… the very posed ones where they are obviously not actually awake are a little strange I suppose.</p>
<p>This will probably add to the creep factor, but I have a friend who is a photographer and I have heard her say it is best to take newborn photos very quickly while they are so flexible and “fold” so well for these kinds of pictures. I guess some people think these poses are cute. </p>
<p>Such images remind me of the work of photographer Anne Geddes, who has made an entire line of products (books, calendars, greeting cards, etc.) out of her style of newborn photography.
<a href=“http://www.annegeddes.com/picture-galleries/”>http://www.annegeddes.com/picture-galleries/</a>
I actually enjoy the images, some (by no means all) of which I find charming and beautiful, but wonder how comfortable the newborn is during a session.
Philosophically, I prefer natural/candid photos, rather than highly stylized/posed shots.
It does seem to be a recent trend, but would not be MY priority for what to do with a newborn during the first weeks.
And IMO the most “out there” item is the Anne Geddes Visa credit card with one of her baby images on it. <a href=“http://www.annegeddes.com/creditcards/”>http://www.annegeddes.com/creditcards/</a></p>
<p>I’m sorry to say one of the worst baby photos I’ve ever seen was the hospital newborn photo of D1! I guess the photog didn’t give a rip that she was sticking her finger in her eye, stretching out and exposing the conjunctiva of her lower lid. Her eyes were rolling back in her head; she looked like a ghoul baby. DH and I looked at each other in horror when we got home from the hospital and pulled them out of the envelope. Now it’s kind of funny, but D1 won’t let us show them to anyone and hates that photo with a passion. So anything else looks pretty tame to me, lol.</p>
<p>Ironically, D1 is now extremely photogenic. We recently had professional photos done of her and D2, and while D2 is very beautiful, we have to choose photos of her carefully because she’ll close her eyes or some of her smiles don’t look natural, etc. But D1 looks relaxed and happy in every single one. </p>
<p>I showed that site to two people who both said many of the babies looked dead to them. The poses are just so unnatural. I also strongly dislike the “glamor” type shots of baby girls with boas and jewels. Can’t they just be babies? And the butt crack revealing shots should be for family eyes only, not freely available on line. </p>
<p>^ Yes, I guess I would be uncomfortable with the obvious “manipulation” of the babies, and the very contrived poses. They are, I believe, meant to be beautiful and to emphasize this special time of life, but I would skip it for my own family.
Re hospital baby pics, I consider them in the same category as passport or driver’s license pics. The photographer just wants to get it done.</p>
<p>Awww, I guess I’m in the minority…I think they are sweet. What’s not to love with all of that perfectly flawless baby skin. Sigh…grand babies are so far off, that I’ll just have to enjoy pics of cute little babies that belong to other lucky people. </p>
<p>The fact that the eyes are closed and some of the swaddling and poses look uncomfortable is what is, to me, unsettling. The Ann Geddes pics often have closed eyes but the poses are sweeter.</p>
<p>It’s hard to take good pictures of newborns. I have been looking at them a lot recently, because there’s a first one in my wife’s family. I have radically different reactions to these. I hate the ones that have poses imitating what an adult or older child might do; I hate the ones with fussy clothes; I love the ones where the babies look like safe, contented, perfect sleepy newborns.</p>
<p>I don’t know if I’d use “creepy” but I don’t like the current fad of cutesy, over-posed pictures. They seem very prevalent in baby and wedding photos and look really contrived to me. I’ll take nice candid natural shots of smiling people and babies. I love pictures, but not these types of poses.</p>
<p>I do detest how they seem to put some headband/hat/huge flower/something on 95% of the baby heads. D was born with congenital hip dysplasia , so that’s all I can think of seeing the ones where they are forced over forward, leaning on their elbows. </p>
<p>I just prefer kids (especially infants) in natural poses. Most of these look very uncomfortable and unnatural to me. These aren’t poses or outfits I would ever choose. </p>
