Photos

[pinkposey]

Hiya all!

I'm a British, living in DR Congo, and we don't have many groups for new mothers here, but there is a small expat French La Leche group which I've been to twice so far. I'd really like to take some cool breastfeeding photos of those who fancy it at our group as we don't have much in the way of baby / mother activities here, and I think this might be a nice thing to do...

But I have no idea about how to take cool bf photos.

If anyone's got any nice shots they could send, or ideas on what we should wear or what'd look nice framewise, I'd appreciate it.

Thanks!

Plus any other ideas for more stuff we could do would be much appreciated.

xxx

really?

You want us to send you photos of us breastfeeding?

La Leche?

Is this serious? You want women to send you breastfeeding photos?

mmmm i think not

Google "breastfeeding pictures" there's loads on the Internet.

Ok sorry PinkPosey you do seem to be genuine after all but asking for people to send you pics is odd to say the least.

If you want to make a project with your group why don't you just ask them and then take some pictures all together not necessarily breastfeeding but just having fun as a group?

If you have a digital camera the best way to go about it IME is to just snap away naturally and see what works.

No no, I wasn't asking people to send me their own photos, sorry I wrote it wrong. I was asking for links to arty photos or ideas for how to capture nice shots. I have seen some really beautiful very subtle photos of breastfeeding babies. Normally not with much showing boob-wise, thats totally the point.

La Leche is a big breastfeeding association / support group / club, its international and everywhere, even here. The whole point of La Leche is breastfeeding hence thats why I was looking to do photos to celebrate it.

I'm just looking for things that baby groups can do together really when we all have very young babies and not much else to do with our lives given where we live and given that that baby club is all about breastfeeding, I thought that might be a nice start.

Ah I see. Perhaps you could ask members to take photos to show what BF means to them; eg quiet time with mum and baby, a family activity - as in the family are present rather than joining in!

Would photos of BF around your community be appropriate? Enough people around here seem to complain about/discuss BF in public so maybe a celebration of the freedom of movement that BF allows a mother to have.

Thanks Gallicgirl - actually that is a brilliant idea. Breastfeeding in public in Africa is very accepted and normal indeed so maybe we can get as well as some arty shots of our babies from baby group, some arty shots of locals and it being a very normal thing instead of something to complain about. I have been in DR Congo ever since having my baby and have never even thought about BF in public being something to receive complaints about, African people / men don't bat an eye, its something to be definitely celebrated, and not hidden under sheets or ashamed of in my opinion.

ps really, its all about creating activities and cool projects when we don't have much to do really. But I think this is a cool mini project, and I reiterate the shots are about being arty and beautiful (and very subtle) and not about anything other, and I think its quite sad that people even raised eyebrows.

I have a photo of me BFing in Kenya with zebras in the background :)

PM me if you want a copy.

I think I have one of me feeding him in a Masai hut, too.

I don't need copies of the photos, but its a great idea to get out and about and take some 'on location'..., and not just do close ups subtle shots. That might be an entirely different idea and project...

We work in development. INGOs promote breastfeeding rather than giving formula which is often suggested to mothers which is far more costly than they can afford and often (though i appreciate not always) unnecessary. Branding - here anyway - is too good on formula and too often folk see it as a status thing or 'better' to give formula. However, generally, women aren't scared at all or shy in the slightest to bf in public when they do and I have never seen any issue raised by anyone else.

So given the above, maybe I should up the scale of my mini project and to get out there not just in the baby group and promote the idea that its cool to bf wherever. Photos could still be subtle but with interesting cool surroundings..., I could give myself something fun to do and it'd be easy enough I think.

Also, I'm intrigued to know what it's like to bf in public in the UK now!!! I didn't pay any attention to what it was like before I was a mother. Is it really that much cause for discussion or debate?? I think I saw a thread on that a while ago but I didn't read it. I'm off to find it now. :-)

Hmmm food for thought. Thanks!

Could you do an informal twinning project with a La Leche group in another country? If you can find a group in a town with a similar demographic, you could persuade the LL group there to run the same project and compare results. It might help support the mothers and give them something fun to learn about.