Marcel Winatschek

Making Art of It

Every time one of those old school friends you half-remember adds you on Facebook because they want to be visible to the world again, and then they have a baby, the maternity photos start rolling through. They’re always awkward. You’re always blocking them.

Bonnie Strange’s pregnancy shots were genuinely different. Silver glitter catching light, pool shots, palms framing the frame—each one felt like something someone made rather than something someone documented. Most people take maternity photos to record a moment. She took them like she was making work. That distinction is everything.

That’s where it sits. Intention. Composition. Light. Most of what separates actual photography from the endless stream of garbage in your feed isn’t the subject—it’s whether the person behind the camera actually understands what they’re doing. Her pregnancy portraits proved it. They’re not maternity photos that happen to be good. They’re good photographs that happen to be about pregnancy.