In this dazzling collection of over 200 photos of pregnant women taken from art libraries, childbirth manuals, maternity ads, contemporary art, and personal albums, the authors explore the paradox between image and reality. The photos illuminate how society creates feminine roles through the institution of pregnancy-and how women resist such roles.

Pregnant Pictures makes a vital contribution to the study of the social meanings of photographs by locating photographic images of pregnancy and bringing them into dialogue with contemporary visual theory, feminist work on the body, and current debates over the politics of reproduction. The volume collects over 100 photographs of pregnant women, the most complete photo archive of its kind in existence, including:
* medical photographs and family photographs since the turn of the century
* art photographs and advertisements for maternity clothing from the 1930s to the present
* photos from lay childbirth manuals from 1950 to present.
Sandra Matthews and Laura Wexler accompany the photos with an insightful analysis that provides the opportunity to rethink, in fresh terms, important issues surrounding the representation of women's bodies.