self portrait challenge

Anyone who reads the blog regularly knows that I have been doing a self portrait project during the past year. It started out as a way to document my pregnancy, but it turned into so much more than that. It has been a journey of self exploration that I am so thankful I began. Which is why I was so thrilled to come across the Self Portrait Challenge blog site.

This site presents a theme each month, and participants submit self portraits weekly in response to the theme. I am thrilled at the opportunity to continue with my self portraiture in a forum where I will be challenged regularly and receive feedback from others interested in photography and self growth.

The theme for November is "Glam", which is a stretch for me. I am not a Glam type of person for the most part. So for this first submission, I decided to put forth some images from my recent work, and then move forward next week with an effort to "Glam it up" a bit. We'll see how successful that ends up to be.

So the closest I have gotten to Glam is glamourous. And the most glamourous I have ever felt is during my recent pregnancy. Coincidentally, the self portraiture project that I began 7 months ago has had such a profound effect on my outlook, that it boosted my own perception of myself into the realm of feeling glamourous at times, which is really very unlike me in general.

Carrying a child is a powerful thing. The transformation one goes through is phenomenal- physically as well as mentally. During this, my fourth journey through childbearing, I gained a new appreciation for the shape my body took on. I enjoyed it and celebrated it. I am proud of who I am and how I look during pregnancy, and proud of what my body is doing- growing and protecting a wonderful new life. Through my portraits I explored the strength, beauty, and sexuality of a woman carrying a child. I felt more glamourous wearing the rounded shape of pregnancy than I ever have wearing any certain piece of clothing or jewelry.

So, here is a sampling of the more glamourous images I created from my time carrying Lyle:

18 weeks


























20 weeks






















31 weeks


























38 weeks

















40 weeks