Scoop: The Naked Truth from Jennifer Loomis

While pregnancy can cause everything from a glow to a greenish hue, local photographer Jennifer Loomis believes there’s beauty in every mom-to-be. In her first book, Portraits of Pregnancy: The Birth of a Mother ($19.95; Sentient Publications, May 2009), she showcases a wide range of women and their pregnancy stories. A pioneer of the pregnant nude niche, Loomis has made a career of helping pregnant women feel gorgeous—she’s exhibited her work in New York City, San Francisco and Seattle, and been featured on NPR and Good Morning America as well as in The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal. As someone who struggled with an eating disorder as a teen, Loomis knows how important it is for women to feel attractive, even when the body seems to have a mind of its own. Reported by longtime journalist Hugo Kugiya (a University of Washington grad and feature writer for The Seattle Times), the narratives accompanying the photos include those of first-time mothers, third-time mothers, single mothers, lesbian mothers, black mothers, white mothers, mothers spanning ages 16 to 54 and many other mothers (several from Seattle). They reveal previous miscarriages, gay sperm donors, relationships that grew stronger post-pregnancy and relationships that ended before the baby was born. And of course the photos tell their own stories as Loomis celebrates mothers in all their big-bellied glory.