Photographer Helen Aller says she has been overwhelmed by the ‘crazy’ response she has received after she posted the revealing picture of a mother and her son next to her caesarean incision on her Facebook page, Helen Carmina Photography.
Since she posted it Ms Aller, who is expecting her third baby in October, has been contacted by millions of people wanting to share their stories. And while the viral image has caused some controversy, she added that she was proud of what she had created.
During an earlier maternity session, Ms Aller said she and the mother – who wishes to remain anonymous –talked about their shared fears of a caesarean.
‘We both said we never wanted one, but when she went into labour there were some complications and she lost a lot of blood, so she had to have an emergency caesarean,’ Ms Aller said.
‘She had no choice and her worst nightmare proved to be what saved her and her son’s lives.’
When the baby and his parents came in for a photoshoot three days after the birth, the mother asked Ms Aller if she would capture her wounds.
‘I gave her the option of wanting to be covered up, but she just wanted it to be raw. I love the image and I love that it’s in black and white because it evokes so many emotions in people. There is nothing else that distracts you in this picture – just mother and baby – that’s it.’
Ms Aller has been a photographer on and off for the past seven years and specialises in maternity, newborn and weddings.
A normal post on her photography Facebook page reaches about 100 people. However, in three days it was seen by 6.3 million people around the world and was shared more than 30,000 times.
‘It just went mad – it’s crazy,’ Ms Aller said. ‘It has caused controversy and I think that is mainly because of where the baby is positioned. On the other hand so many people have contacted me from all over the world, saying about their C-sections and how at the time they felt really terrible. But after seeing the picture they said it made them look at caesareans in a different way. It has got people talking, that’s for sure.’
Ms Aller said she has been contacted by people across the globe, including from Australia and the US. She has also been asked to feature on international baby blogs.
‘I do feel proud and it’s everyone’s dream for your work to be viewed around the world. The mum was really overwhelmed by it and shocked, and I am so grateful to her as well because she wanted to do it.’
