A Telford mother’s ‘Demi Moore’ style photograph pose to celebrate her pregnancy turned into a stressful ordeal that made her feel like a ‘weirdo’.
Deborah Carpenter, from St Georges, said she was approached by a photography company in Mothercare, Telford, to help her document her pregnancy in pictures.
She paid £120 up front for a series of three photo shoots – one before the birth, one when the baby was born and then a final shoot when her baby is three months old.
At her first photoshoot she asked if she was allowed to have an artistic ‘Demi Moore’ style photo taken of her bare bump.
The photographer agreed but when Mrs Carpenter returned to collect the prints this month, the store refused to hand them over.
“I wanted a Demi Moore photograph, nice and tasteful, and they said it was fine,” she said. “But when we went to the shop to collect the photographs there was a problem with the ‘Demi Moore’ one because some kind of legislation at the store.”
Mrs Carpenter, who is due to give birth in the next week, said the shop told her the photograph broke the company’s strict guidelines and would have to be cropped if she wanted to take it home.
“They said about having it cropped or said we could have the shoot re-done but I am now bigger than I was. I don’t want it done now.
“It is absolutely ridiculous. You can’t see anything on the photograph – my hand is covering everything.
“I am a confident person and don’t have a problem with my body but even I started to think ‘is it that bad? Is it horrible?’
“It upset me.”
Mrs Carpenter’s friend, Ruth Lister, said: “The store have made her feel like a perverted weirdo and that there is something obscene about a woman’s pregnant body.”
Lorraine Carrol, regional manager for the photography company, said: “PixiFoto is a family and portrait photography company and as such follows strict company guidelines to what type of photography is permitted within its open plan studio environment.
“Mrs Carpenter’s photo session did not fall within these guidelines and therefore the session should never have been permitted to go ahead.
“Pixifoto acknowledge that this is an internal training issue within this particular studio and as Mrs Carpenter stressed the importance of receiving this product, we on this occasion have granted permission for it to be released.”
A spokesperson for Mothercare said the photograph company, Pixifoto, is a partner with their stores.
She said: “This wouldn’t have been a Mothercare decision. Pixifoto clearly made their own decisions and we appreciate it has been inconvenient and distressing but it is not our decision to hold the photograph.”
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