Art nouveau inspired maternity session

Creative maternity portrait session

As a maternity photographer in Wellington, New Zealand, I love doing sessions that draw on my my interests. Creative sessions are a great way to do this.

I did several art history courses at university and the art nouveau period was always my favourite. I once heard that art nouveau looks like it is made by elves. Art deco is when it looks made by dwarves. One of the key elements of art nouveau that I love is the focus on flowing lines and how this period of art draws on the natural world.

For Rebecca's maternity session at the end of 2024, I focused on the works of Alphonse Mucha, a prolific artist from Morovia. Mucha often focused on women and his work was used widely in advertisements and posters at the time. Many people are familiar with his designs for Moët & Chandon.

Rather than replicating Mucha's work outright, I wanted images from Rebecca's maternity session to have echos of the art nouveau master's work. This meant flowing fabrics, soft flat light and and flowers. But I also wanted to focus on honouring her pregnancy bump - so not too many flowers or an overly complicated background. We used large piece of cream chiffon for the first set of images. In the second set, we used a navy blue chiffon gown I created last year. I edited the images to create a soft pastel feel. Finally, during the session, I used a fan to create movement in the fabric and Rebecca's hair.

Ultimately, I am really pleased with how these maternity portraits worked out. But I am keen to do more. I am already planning out future sessions with a similar feel and inspiration.

So, how do you think I did?