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I Found A Creative Way To Protect My Daughter, Who Has Cleft Lip, And Still Share Cute Pictures Of Her Daily Life Online (30 Pics)
Hello, my name is Kelley Hudson, I'm a photographer and a mother. Like most parents, I wanted to share my daughter's daily life with our friends and family on the internet. But after she was born with cleft lip and palate, I got worried that maybe my daughter wouldn't want all her baby photos and hospital struggles posted... that sharing too much of my daughter's identity might take away my child's rite to her anonymity online.
I then decided to do something creative and the results are nothing but awesome!
More info: kelleyhudson.com | Instagram | Facebook
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A Reflection Of Myself
I want to be sure I understand correctly. These are just the photos that you post, correct? They are amazing and loving, but she will also have photos of her beautiful whole self, and never doubt that anyone didn't love her just they way she is/was?
Yeah the mum would definitely have photos that don't hide her daughter's face. She only post these ones because she's trying to protect her daughter from shitty people on the Internet that would have something negative to say about the little girl.
Load More Replies...I don't understand. In the pictures that I've seen of kids with cleft lips after having cosmetic surgery, you could not even tell there was once a problem. Cosmetic surgery for this has really evolved.
Painting In The Nude
Best Friends
Leap
this little girl is beyond beautiful and I really admire her mum's work too!
Dirt, Dirt And More Dirt
You are SUCH A GOOD MOM to let your little girl get so muddy!!! In the grand scheme of things, those clothes and shoes mean nothing. Great photos, by the way.
An Accident
Sleeping Beauty
Daisy
He loves me, he loves me not. I'm sure, her Mummy, or Daddy, will monitoring her male friends <3
Flower Girl
Big Bear
Good Morning Nugget
Oh my gosh, this is adorable! Look at those huge eyes on her.. She is going to be beautiful, when she grows up!! It doesn't matter if she has a cleft palate, or not!!
Exploration
You Drive, I'll Shift
Swinging
Hot Day
I love this one, getting her toys clean, and a super wet diaper! It looks like she sat in the little tub! :D
Fishies
Beach Baby
Jumping Up And Down In Muddy Puddles
We Have The Same Socks!
Daddy Is Silly
Superheros Wear Heels
Stunning outfit! I'd bet she feels like a beautiful princess. (I noticed her princess ring in another photo.)
Ice Cream!
Tivoli
Learning To Ride A Scooter
Odense With Grandma
i get why you did it the way did, but to the public, or me, it kind of feels like you're hiding her "disability" or whatever you want to call it. I don't think she would be ashamed of it when she's older unless you're planning to get it surgically fixed soon and she won't have the cleft when she's older.
Happy Birthday!
Here I am, take me as I am, too! Little, blonde, and beautiful! <3
The New Children's Museum
Trampoline For Christmas
Japan
Exploring Old Stuff
Hot Day
Cawfee Tawk
Playing With Friends
Dress Up Day
Library Time
I love how you've done this, it's so intimate but it's private at the same time. This shot reminds me of the silly Chris Pratt when he pranked Jennifer Lawrence for their movie Passengers. Cutting her face out of the shots "accidentally"... the way you've done this doesn't feel intentional to hide her face. It's so beautifully done!
Playing With Friends
Today Is My Favorite Day
Frederiksberg Slot
I Love You
Now that's the kind of attitude I was longing for quite some time. A parent who RESPECT their kid's privacy! I'm full of nude babies on the Internet, how cute they might be. They didn't give the consent to be seen by strangers! Those photos also show childhood in a great way - all the things the girl does, what she likes. I am really impressed. And happy. Was a pleasure to watch - delicate, subtle, warm, full of joy, not pretensional or offensive to anyone watching.
Thank you so much! I really appreciate your kind words and your understanding of the meaning behind the project. Thank you for totally making my day <3
Load More Replies...Another moronic headline by Bored Panda. My first reaction was 'Why the hell does she think her daughter has to hide her cleft lip??' In the comments I find out, that this is mor about respecting the privacy of your children - which I totally approve of. I have no idea who does the headlines at BP, but they should go and take up a job at some nasty tabloid. Lovely pics!
And I had the chance to edit before it went trending and now I can't touch it! The headline keeps changing and all the descriptions for the photos are gone (all the images used to have titles). Frustrating! Anyway, thank you so much for your lovely comments and for your understanding. I really appreciate them and I'm glad you enjoyed the project ❤️
Load More Replies...I didn't have the reaction that most seem to have had here. I felt angry, at first, then I looked at all of the pictures, read it all, read all the comments. I guess, I agree, now.. I first felt like why is our world so horrible that ANYone would make fun or disparage a child for any reason.. This is our world today, I guess. But I didn't think of the over exposer we have today of kids (I don't have or do FB) seeing it put the way most of you here have, I get it and agree. The pictures are beautiful.
I'll be quite honest... I didn't write that headline, it was adjusted by Bored Panda. The whole project is not about the fact that my daughter has a cleft, but that she ALSO has a cleft along with a mom who wants to be proud and show off but without invading so much of her privacy. I want there to be a middle ground between what I want and what she might want one day. It's always so black and white these days, I felt like maybe this is a bit more in the grey. Thank you for your kind words, thank you for seeing these photos and enjoying the purpose behind them. Thank you <3
Load More Replies...Nice pictures but why don't you just not put photos of your daughter online. That's the best - and easiest - protection...
Mostly because I do want to share my daughter's life with the people who love her that live very far away. I feel like, with online sharing, there's often only two options: No sharing and sharing. I wanted to share but I wanted to do so in a way that preserved a modicum of her personal online identity (and also something fun and creative she could look back on and appreciate one day). The project focuses more on her actual life, things we do together, places she goes to, things she sees. It's her story but this way she can go back when she's older and decide where she wants to fill in the missing pieces.
Load More Replies...I really admire your respect for your child's privacy! Most parents think nothing of documenting their children's lives, this is a breath of fresh air! These are beautiful pictures and you have a beautiful daughter :)
Thank you so much! This comment really means a lot to me and I appreciate it so much <3
Load More Replies...Amazing! You not only inspire me but also your daughter. Showing her the world but also protecting her at the same time. This was beautifully done, I can totally remember when you 1st started this project and how we were discussing it over our coffee dates. I would have never imagined it would turn into this several years later. Keep going! I also love this project because it breaks the stigma of Cleft kiddos. She healthy, beautiful, happy and full of life, nothing is going to stop her. I love that you also don’t stop her from who she wants to be. Most parents want to protect their kids and don’t expose them to the world which I think causes more harm. Being a kid and socializing with the outside world develops their personality make them better humans, in my humble opinion. Keep going, keep teaching, keep on living, you’re doing it right!
Beautiful photographs. It is worrying that parents don't realise that their child might not like their baby and childhood pix splattered all over the internet. Some children have reached adulthood and demanded that their parents take the photos down, so it does happen. What makes me a bit sad is that she only thought this because the child has a cleft lip and palate. That's not something that needs to be kept hidden and yet that's the reason it occurred to her that her child deserved privacy. I'm sure her daughter won't want the journey that she'll have to undertake put out there for all to see so I agree about that. Respect your child's privacy, absolutely, but do it because it's the right thing to do anyway.
I wish more parents were like this mother and a) respected their child's right to privacy/future desire to not have their whole lives made public b) protected their child's anonymity so that only actual family and solid friends could see photos (soooo many reasons to not put all your personal details/schedules/routines out for all to see) and c) depicted their children doing totally NORMAL, unstructured, messy age appropriate play.
Thank you!!! I appreciate that a lot <3
Load More Replies...These are lovely pictures of a very happy kid. Besides from being a great photographer, you are a great mum.
Don’t care about the cleft clip thing. Your child is so beautiful. I bet she’s even more beautiful in full picture. But those eyes are stunning. Love the photos
I was originally upset about the title— like, why hide it?? It’s a normal thing, my brother has one! But I get it now, good on you :)
Thank you, Bored Panda people, for changing the title into something civilized again and something that matches the content of the post. This clickbait c**p isn't necessary. I tend to click on everything that is featured, anyway (because, you know, bored :-) )
As a fine art and architectural photographer, I must say I'm jealous. My subjects don't talk, and don't walk, and I can use all the complicated lighting setups I want. Shooting people, especially kids (with natural light no less) is harder than people think. These are great shots. And as a privacy freak, I'll all for the concept because you get the best of both worlds, plus having no face helps strangers relate the photos to their own lives and experiences (if they're blonde and white of course, haha) which helps make them a bit more magical.
These are amazing and sweet! My sister has small children she likes to photograph in similiar ways. I think she would love these images too! :-)
Fine if you feel you have to to share your brat's photos with the world. Just remember, once she has grown up, she might just like to know what she looked like as a child.
Don't you understand the repercussions of this? This beautiful girl will grow up thinking that her cleft lip is bad, because her mother tried to hide it.
Bored Panda changed the title to include the part about her cleft. Tess happens to have a cleft, this is true. But regardless of her cleft I would have made the same project, I take 1000s of photos of her actual face and I have them plastered all over my house. I share them with my family and friends privately as well. i think Nugget will enjoy these photos one day, I don't think she will at all feel like I was ashamed or embarrassed of her. More like, despite my feelings about sharenting or oversharing, I still wanted to find a way to show her to the world. But thats always going to be between her and I.
Load More Replies...Cute kid, good photos, clever, variety, nice gallery - wow - who are you and what did you do with the normal sad sack redundant snowflake that normally posts on BP?
Who are you and what did you do with the normal Vonskippy that can't ever come up with clever complaints? At least you were mildly decent about it.
Load More Replies...EY McGee, DONT BE SAYING ON HERE THAT YOU WANT TO NOT INVADE HER PRIVACY! SHE IS A KID! She doesn't know ans don't care. I see this more of you and don't want to share her face online which is fine and all, but don't state that you don't to invade her PRIVACY b******t! That is so wrong and so freaking ignorant to say for the whole world to see. It freaking pisses me off seeing parents writing such c**p like this to male them feel better about themselves and also to make the self look good as parents when it actually doesn't! The comments on here saying nice s**t isn't being real with u but I am and always will.
It sounds more like to me that this mom is ashamed of her daughter and doesn't want to embarrass herself and also her daughter with the pics. Shame on her! Its b******t saying that she wants her prespect her rite to privacy! She's a freaking kid! Kids don't have privacy!!! You're freaking stupid! I really detest liberal parenting! That will destroy that kid later in life, u just wait and see and I will say I told u so!
Who says she didn't? This is not mentioned anywhere. And the fact she has a cleft-lip is totally blown up by BoredPanda. They changed things in the article, unfortunately for the worse. Even after great surgery, often you can still see a difference in comparison to people who did not have a cleft lip. Whether she did let it fix or did not, this should not be the focus (and not your decision). The focus should be on the beautiful project she has done. Sharing beautiful photo's of her daughter with the world because she is so proud of her, but still keep her daughters privacy. You just assumed something, whether it is right or not. You should not just assume things. And reading the intro, she also wrote, she did not want to share all the hospital stuff, that to me seems like she did have surgery. But I do not know this for sure. I do not assume it. I just state what is written.
Load More Replies...Now that's the kind of attitude I was longing for quite some time. A parent who RESPECT their kid's privacy! I'm full of nude babies on the Internet, how cute they might be. They didn't give the consent to be seen by strangers! Those photos also show childhood in a great way - all the things the girl does, what she likes. I am really impressed. And happy. Was a pleasure to watch - delicate, subtle, warm, full of joy, not pretensional or offensive to anyone watching.
Thank you so much! I really appreciate your kind words and your understanding of the meaning behind the project. Thank you for totally making my day <3
Load More Replies...Another moronic headline by Bored Panda. My first reaction was 'Why the hell does she think her daughter has to hide her cleft lip??' In the comments I find out, that this is mor about respecting the privacy of your children - which I totally approve of. I have no idea who does the headlines at BP, but they should go and take up a job at some nasty tabloid. Lovely pics!
And I had the chance to edit before it went trending and now I can't touch it! The headline keeps changing and all the descriptions for the photos are gone (all the images used to have titles). Frustrating! Anyway, thank you so much for your lovely comments and for your understanding. I really appreciate them and I'm glad you enjoyed the project ❤️
Load More Replies...I didn't have the reaction that most seem to have had here. I felt angry, at first, then I looked at all of the pictures, read it all, read all the comments. I guess, I agree, now.. I first felt like why is our world so horrible that ANYone would make fun or disparage a child for any reason.. This is our world today, I guess. But I didn't think of the over exposer we have today of kids (I don't have or do FB) seeing it put the way most of you here have, I get it and agree. The pictures are beautiful.
I'll be quite honest... I didn't write that headline, it was adjusted by Bored Panda. The whole project is not about the fact that my daughter has a cleft, but that she ALSO has a cleft along with a mom who wants to be proud and show off but without invading so much of her privacy. I want there to be a middle ground between what I want and what she might want one day. It's always so black and white these days, I felt like maybe this is a bit more in the grey. Thank you for your kind words, thank you for seeing these photos and enjoying the purpose behind them. Thank you <3
Load More Replies...Nice pictures but why don't you just not put photos of your daughter online. That's the best - and easiest - protection...
Mostly because I do want to share my daughter's life with the people who love her that live very far away. I feel like, with online sharing, there's often only two options: No sharing and sharing. I wanted to share but I wanted to do so in a way that preserved a modicum of her personal online identity (and also something fun and creative she could look back on and appreciate one day). The project focuses more on her actual life, things we do together, places she goes to, things she sees. It's her story but this way she can go back when she's older and decide where she wants to fill in the missing pieces.
Load More Replies...I really admire your respect for your child's privacy! Most parents think nothing of documenting their children's lives, this is a breath of fresh air! These are beautiful pictures and you have a beautiful daughter :)
Thank you so much! This comment really means a lot to me and I appreciate it so much <3
Load More Replies...Amazing! You not only inspire me but also your daughter. Showing her the world but also protecting her at the same time. This was beautifully done, I can totally remember when you 1st started this project and how we were discussing it over our coffee dates. I would have never imagined it would turn into this several years later. Keep going! I also love this project because it breaks the stigma of Cleft kiddos. She healthy, beautiful, happy and full of life, nothing is going to stop her. I love that you also don’t stop her from who she wants to be. Most parents want to protect their kids and don’t expose them to the world which I think causes more harm. Being a kid and socializing with the outside world develops their personality make them better humans, in my humble opinion. Keep going, keep teaching, keep on living, you’re doing it right!
Beautiful photographs. It is worrying that parents don't realise that their child might not like their baby and childhood pix splattered all over the internet. Some children have reached adulthood and demanded that their parents take the photos down, so it does happen. What makes me a bit sad is that she only thought this because the child has a cleft lip and palate. That's not something that needs to be kept hidden and yet that's the reason it occurred to her that her child deserved privacy. I'm sure her daughter won't want the journey that she'll have to undertake put out there for all to see so I agree about that. Respect your child's privacy, absolutely, but do it because it's the right thing to do anyway.
I wish more parents were like this mother and a) respected their child's right to privacy/future desire to not have their whole lives made public b) protected their child's anonymity so that only actual family and solid friends could see photos (soooo many reasons to not put all your personal details/schedules/routines out for all to see) and c) depicted their children doing totally NORMAL, unstructured, messy age appropriate play.
Thank you!!! I appreciate that a lot <3
Load More Replies...These are lovely pictures of a very happy kid. Besides from being a great photographer, you are a great mum.
Don’t care about the cleft clip thing. Your child is so beautiful. I bet she’s even more beautiful in full picture. But those eyes are stunning. Love the photos
I was originally upset about the title— like, why hide it?? It’s a normal thing, my brother has one! But I get it now, good on you :)
Thank you, Bored Panda people, for changing the title into something civilized again and something that matches the content of the post. This clickbait c**p isn't necessary. I tend to click on everything that is featured, anyway (because, you know, bored :-) )
As a fine art and architectural photographer, I must say I'm jealous. My subjects don't talk, and don't walk, and I can use all the complicated lighting setups I want. Shooting people, especially kids (with natural light no less) is harder than people think. These are great shots. And as a privacy freak, I'll all for the concept because you get the best of both worlds, plus having no face helps strangers relate the photos to their own lives and experiences (if they're blonde and white of course, haha) which helps make them a bit more magical.
These are amazing and sweet! My sister has small children she likes to photograph in similiar ways. I think she would love these images too! :-)
Fine if you feel you have to to share your brat's photos with the world. Just remember, once she has grown up, she might just like to know what she looked like as a child.
Don't you understand the repercussions of this? This beautiful girl will grow up thinking that her cleft lip is bad, because her mother tried to hide it.
Bored Panda changed the title to include the part about her cleft. Tess happens to have a cleft, this is true. But regardless of her cleft I would have made the same project, I take 1000s of photos of her actual face and I have them plastered all over my house. I share them with my family and friends privately as well. i think Nugget will enjoy these photos one day, I don't think she will at all feel like I was ashamed or embarrassed of her. More like, despite my feelings about sharenting or oversharing, I still wanted to find a way to show her to the world. But thats always going to be between her and I.
Load More Replies...Cute kid, good photos, clever, variety, nice gallery - wow - who are you and what did you do with the normal sad sack redundant snowflake that normally posts on BP?
Who are you and what did you do with the normal Vonskippy that can't ever come up with clever complaints? At least you were mildly decent about it.
Load More Replies...EY McGee, DONT BE SAYING ON HERE THAT YOU WANT TO NOT INVADE HER PRIVACY! SHE IS A KID! She doesn't know ans don't care. I see this more of you and don't want to share her face online which is fine and all, but don't state that you don't to invade her PRIVACY b******t! That is so wrong and so freaking ignorant to say for the whole world to see. It freaking pisses me off seeing parents writing such c**p like this to male them feel better about themselves and also to make the self look good as parents when it actually doesn't! The comments on here saying nice s**t isn't being real with u but I am and always will.
It sounds more like to me that this mom is ashamed of her daughter and doesn't want to embarrass herself and also her daughter with the pics. Shame on her! Its b******t saying that she wants her prespect her rite to privacy! She's a freaking kid! Kids don't have privacy!!! You're freaking stupid! I really detest liberal parenting! That will destroy that kid later in life, u just wait and see and I will say I told u so!
Who says she didn't? This is not mentioned anywhere. And the fact she has a cleft-lip is totally blown up by BoredPanda. They changed things in the article, unfortunately for the worse. Even after great surgery, often you can still see a difference in comparison to people who did not have a cleft lip. Whether she did let it fix or did not, this should not be the focus (and not your decision). The focus should be on the beautiful project she has done. Sharing beautiful photo's of her daughter with the world because she is so proud of her, but still keep her daughters privacy. You just assumed something, whether it is right or not. You should not just assume things. And reading the intro, she also wrote, she did not want to share all the hospital stuff, that to me seems like she did have surgery. But I do not know this for sure. I do not assume it. I just state what is written.
Load More Replies...