Kelee: Fashion + Maternity
I am reading a fabulous book on photography that is called “The Command to Look.” It was written in 1937 by William Mortensen but his words are still hugely relevant today. Let me share this with you:
“Is,” not “does.” Try to make your subject matter express itself by what it is, not by what it does. A picture in which your subject matter is very busy doing something is almost certain to lose its charm after you have seen it once or twice. Whereas one returns again and again to a picture in which the subject simply sits still and is completely and fully itself.
I think that is very true. And I also think that principle is at play with the images from Kelee’s maternity session. Kelee O’Brien is a powerhouse of a woman and maintains a blog on fashion, beauty, and health. She is absolutely besotted with the child she is carrying now. She is full of joyful expectation!
When we talked about what her session would be like, I knew that she was not one to be fit into what might be called a more “typical” maternity setting. This is not to say that another woman might be that woman who will appear more like an earth mother type - and vive la difference! Kelee is about fashion, about pride, about strength, and sure, maybe with a bit of attitude.
That is who she is. That is what is in these images.