Just when you thought you’d seen all sides of every Kardashian, Kourtney Kardashian follows up sister Kim’s attempt to break the internet with a nude photo shoot conducted while nine months pregnant with her third child. Kourtney’s no stranger to exposing viewers to the wonders of childbirth, of course; who can forget, for better or worse, the memorable scene of Keeping Up With the Kardashians showing her reaching down to pull out her second child? The shoot, done in collaboration with Brian Bowen Smith, only reinforces the oldest sister’s role as the pacifying, nurturing one, though, especially since she says her decision to publicly de-robe was contingent on the fact that she’s pregnant. “It’s such an amazing feeling…this is what my body was meant to do.”
What made you want to take these pictures?
I had done a nude shoot when I was pregnant with Mason, really last minute just for myself, and I love it. The photo is hanging in the entry of my mom’s house. It actually used to be in her bedroom next to her bed but Bruce would always make a comment about having it in his room. But it was really beautiful. This time, we were shooting for our show, and everyone on our camera crew was like, “You are so comfortable just walking around naked and pregnant!” And Scott, who stopped by with Kim said the same thing to me, like “How are you fine just standing there like naked with all these people around?!”
So you’re not self-conscious as a pregnant person?
To me, nudity is not something to be ashamed of. I’m not embarrassed of my body. I’m at my best when I’m pregnant. It’s such an amazing feeling, the transformation that your body goes through. There’s something about that that’s so empowering and beautiful and I just really embrace it.
How do you hope people will react to these pictures?
I don’t know. It’s what a woman’s body is made to do, so I hope it’s maybe seen as something that’s artistic. This was something that initially I did for myself just to capture the moment in my life, but these photos are beautiful and I’m happy to share them. And I like how raw they are. It’s my body: I’m not trying to impress anybody or be something that I’m not. But in general, I don’t really care that much about what people think. It doesn’t rule my world. I did this because I wanted to and it made me happy.
Would you sit for a nude portrait if you weren’t pregnant?
I would never say never, but I don’t think so, no. What appeals to me is celebrating the shape of my body being pregnant and capturing that time in my life. I wanted to do something that felt authentic to me rather than being pushed in a certain direction by somebody else. The appeal was to be involved in something I would say I had more control over than other photo shoots. No one telling me this is how you’re going to look and how you’re going to pose. It’s a wonderful thing to be able to show my children these photographs one day and say, “This was you inside.”
