A week or so ago I was interviewed by a reporter at The New York Times about birth photography.  I was excited and so happy that something I love so much was getting national attention and possibly a larger audience.  I love birth photography, I love the business side of birth photography.  That’s why I founded the International Association of Professional Birth Photographers in 2010.  At one time birth photographers were difficult to find in many areas and I wanted to help other moms connect with photographers in their area.  I know how much Teagan’s birth photos mean to me, they are priceless, and I wanted to spread that gift far and wide.

The article, written by Elissa Gootman, appeared on the front page of the New York Times on June 17, 2012.  I was excited, elated, nervous, thrilled….until I read it.  By the time I got to the end of the article I feel degraded.  Both as a professional birth photographer and as a mother who chose to have her birth photographed.  That article spurred a rash of other articles popping up including Yahoo, MSN, The Stir, The Project, The Bump, Baby Center and many others.  Major networks including Good Morning America and The Today Show have also shown an interest in the concept of birth photography.  I believe exposing the masses to the idea of birth photography is a wonderful thing.  But I also think there are many negative things being written and shared that are, well, simply untrue and not accurate.  Ms. Gootman and the other writers missed the mark.  They missed the beauty.  There was so much they could have said, but didn’t.

So I did.

You can read it here.

It’s not the front page of the New York Times, but it is the truth.