Why Kim K. (and Other Celebs) Post the Same First Baby Photo
Oh, baby: Kim Kardashian’s big reveal of son, Saint West, didn’t reveal much.
The mother-of-two’s first photo of the infant — titled: “BFF” — shows the 1-month-old’s hand wrapped around his big sister North’s finger. The caption on the image uploaded to Kardashian’s personal website on Saturday reads simply, “She said, ‘He’s my best friend.’”
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If the hands-only baby photo looks familiar, that’s because it is. Kourtney Kardashian showed off her third child, son Reign Aston Disick, for the first time on Instagram a week after his Dec. 14 birth with a shot of just his hand (see below).
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Photo: Instagram/Kourtney Kardashian
And before that, Blake Lively’s and Ryan Reynolds’s daughter, James Reynolds, made her Instagram debut, a full six months after she was born in December 2014, with — you guessed it —a shot of her hand resting on Dad’s thumb.
Photo: Instagram/Ryan Reynolds
Showing little of the little ones in celebrities’ baby photos has become such a thing that it seems nearly every body part has been, well, snapped up, if you will. One of the first shots Kristin Cavallari shared of her daughter, Saylor, born Nov. 23, was an image of her feet.
Photo: Instagram/Kristin Cavallari
In Olivia Wilde’s announcement and photo of son Otis Alexander Sudeikis, in April 2014, only the infant’s ear is in focus.
Photo: Twitter/Olivia Wilde
Christina Aguilera, meanwhile, got to the bottom of things, sharing the first shot of her daughter, Summer Rain Rutler, on Twitter in January 2015, when the baby was 6 months old. The image focused on Summer’s rear end — modeling a diaper cover embroidered “Lil Diva.”
Photo: Twitter/Christina Aguilera
Such sneak peeks may not be satisfying for fans, but image consultant Carol Davidson tells Yahoo Parenting that they’re not supposed to be. “Stars are creating a buildup of anticipation,” says the New York City image professional. “With certain celebrities, we’re hungry for these photos, and showing a small part of the kids is giving people just a bit of what they want.”
It’s also giving some stars what they presumably want for giving fans more: an increased likelihood that they could sell traditional baby photos to celebrity publications like People, Us Weekly and OK!
The covers of such magazine covers can pay off big. For Aguilera’s reveal of her first child, son Max, on People’s cover in 2008, the singer scored $1.5 million. Matthew McConaughey made $3 million for son Levi’s first photo on the cover of OK!, and Jennifer Lopez snagged $6 million for showing off her twins, Emme and Max Anthony, on People the same year.
Photo: People magazine
But Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt take the title for most lucrative first look at their kids: The 2008 debut of twins Vivienne and Knox Jolie-Pitt, above, cost People and Hello! a reported $14 million.
“Of course, people would much rather see a complete picture of an adorable baby than a piece of an adorable baby,” says Davidson. Putting out faceless photos of baby fingers, toes, and other parts is “hype,” pure and simple, she says. “It’s almost like suckering in fans when stars show their children piece by piece,” she explains. “People fall for it hook, line, and sinker.”
Top photo: Instagram/Kim Kardashian
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