09/01/2026
Let’s talk about the Seventh Circuit’s ruling in United States v. Steven Anderegg, No. 25-1354, decided August 25, 2026.
At the beginning of this year, I made the decision to stop posting identifiable photos of children on my personal or photography pages. Recent developments have only reinforced that decision.
In short: the court ruled that, under the federal law at issue, the government could not criminalize the private, in-home possession of obscene AI-generated images depicting fictional children because existing First Amendment precedent protected that material.
The ruling is complicated, it does not mean that using real children’s photos to create sexual abuse material is “legal”, but it does highlight an issue that’s weighed heavily on my heart for a long time.
Once a child’s image is publicly online, we lose control over what someone else can do with it.
For me, that risk is never worth it.
Being transparent, this decision has hurt my business. I don’t book nearly as many children and family sessions as I used to. Children were a much bigger part of my business before I made this change and I miss them. Kids bring another kind of energy to a session that you just can’t get from adults alone.
I still photograph children and I still love love love working with your littles. I just choose to protect their privacy by being much more intentional about what I share publicly.
Children aren’t marketing material. Their privacy and safety will always matter more to me than having another beautiful photo on my feed.
I would rather lose bookings than look back years from now and wish I had been more careful with an image of someone’s child.
This is a choice I made for my business, but more importantly, it’s a choice I made because I believe it’s the right thing to do. 🤍
I’ll leave the actual court documents in the comments for anyone who wants to read the ruling for themselves.
