At dinner Bryan again questioned one of my hard and fast rules about photography and my daughter. Specifically - why is it that I refuse to take pictures (or have pictures taken of) Abby in the bath tub but yet I posted THIS picture of Abby in nothing more than a diaper and a candy heart-shaped box.
First, let me explain my reasoning for the no-tub-pictures rule, and preface it by saying that I do not have a problem if other people take pictures of their children in the tub. That's your decision and I'm genuinely not judging, but we have made a decision that we are comfortable with for our child. Anny and I, mostly I, just don't see the purpose of the bath tub picture.
- I have absolutely no intention of showing a naked picture to any future suitor. (Isn't that why folks take them?)
- I don't have a desire to post a full on naked picture of her on the web.
- Bath time is a time when we play and really begin the winding down part of our evening, and camera time is often not.
I admit that I do see beauty in the human body, but maybe I have just fallen too much into the trap of assuming that it's only for show if the person is "of age," whatever that age is. There is a picture or two from Abby's first bath, and to me every one after that is just a part of our routine. I don't put up pictures of me putting her shoes on...
Last week's picture: I think that the picture that I posted last week was much more covering than a lot of others, and I guess that is the reason I have no problem with it. All of the things that I think should be covered were covered. I guess that I also saw last week's picture as more art than Abby - I had been planning and plotting it for weeks, but it didn't happen until a bonus day off in February.
So, to me the difference is that one is everyday and commonplace, and a bit more exposure than I care for. The other was designed and set up and done purely for the sake of the picture, and had all of my daughters' diaper area covered. (How is that for rationalization?)
Do you take pictures of your child(ren) in the tub? Do you post them online? Is there a reason you do or do not?
MG and C bathe together, which makes for some really cute pictures. I've taken a few, in the past, but I can't say I've gone out of my way much to get them. I don't think I've posted any online, because... eeew. There's enough worry that creepy people are looking at my kids' clothed pictures and having impure thoughts. I'm not going to make it easy for them!
ReplyDeletePlus, God knows if some idiot would come after me for "kiddie p**n" if I did post a bathtub pic or two.
So the short answer is, yes, I have taken them in the past, but no I wouldn't post them, and yes I think my kids are getting a little too old for bathtub pics, and no, I didn't think there was anything wrong with your beautiful picture from Valentine's day, and yes, I would've taken a pic of Claire like that if I had thought of it before I threw out the candy box, but I think that at 3.5 MG is too old for a pic like that, and no, I can't really figure out when she got to be too old, it's a gut feeling thing - maybe because the candy box wouldn't cover everything on her? and no, this wasn't a short answer at all.
Amy
Yes, yes, and no. By which I mean that I take them, post them, and don't judge others who choose differently but just don't see infant/toddler naked pictures as significant. (My brain just simply can't sexualize them in any way.) Bath times are a significant part of our routine, and I take pictures mostly to remember. We take pictures of the kids eating dinner, learning to sit on the potty chair, sitting in their car seats, etc. Just snapshots of life, you know?
ReplyDeleteThe silly pictures my parents have of me as a kid - including some of my in the tub with my sisters or "dressing alike" wearing nothing but matching knee socks - don't bother me, and I'm pretty sure my parents never showed any of my old boyfriends. :)
This is one of my favorite all time pictures of Ellie: http://sarahlynn.blogspot.com/2005/01/heaven.html
To clarify: I am certainly NOT suggesting that your opinion is inappropriate!
ReplyDeleteI just mean that, yeah, I get that there are sickos out there. Intellectually. But I simply can't connect that understanding with actual images of my kids.
And I don't see a funny/sudsy bath photo as any more dangerous than something like the one of Abby and the heart, or even a fully clothed child. Sickos are . . . sick.
The issue I am working on is one of privacy. Certainly my girls have a right to their own privacy. At some point, they have a right to control not just images, but certain personal stories about them. I already knock before entering my 5-year-old's room. And I am more careful about the pictures I post on, say, my blog.