You Lookin' at Me?

Lately I've become a little self-conscious about the kind of baby pictures I send to friends or display semi-publicly. Usually I would send a clear photo showing a smiling Sebastian. But sometimes I wonder why that should be the kind of image I create on his behalf. After all, babies, like adults, have a wide range of delicate emotion of which smiling is but one kind of expression and in fact a rare kind. From my perspective as a breastfeeding mom, he's more often suckling with eyes closed. An equally common expression is when he's screaming his head off for attention. But why are those moments less captured and even less circulated?

I suppose sending friends too many pictures of one's crying tot would run the risk of reflecting badly on the caretaker. Sending too many pictures of a sleeping baby makes one wonder whether the child is active enough. And for Sebastian's grandparents, their idea of a good baby photo must further preserve the head in its entirety. So no extreme close-ups of the face please! But why photograph the face only? I happen to think Sebastian is extremely expressive with his hands.

Then again, why is it all about what we adults want and expect? Sebastian is totally aware of the camera, living under the age of digital reproduction. Each photo that doesn't make it to semi-public circulation is a statement that defies the so-called good baby photo. Keep them coming little one!