Exactly 19 years ago, in August of 1991, Demi Moore posed nude and pregnant on the cover of Vanity Fair. At the time, the image was considered shocking and its publication was met with a storm of controversy. It also turned out to be a groundbreaking image, one that opened the door for maternity photography.
I rarely set out to replicate images. However, this afternoon my model and I agreed it would be interesting to recreate the famous Demi Moore cover because she is 19 years old, born the same year Annie Leibovitz took the photo. She has grown up in a world where images of pregnancy have become a normal part of life and maternity photographs are celebrated by many moms-to-be.
It is hard to know if or when maternity photography would have become as popular as it has without Demi Moore and Annie Leibovitz’s work, but it was certainly was a tremendous step in opening minds and moving portrait photography forward.