--- title: Photographer Defends Image of Firefighter’s Wife Nursing description: The photographer who took the viral picture of a woman breastfeeding her son in her husband’s firefighter uniform defended the image. canonical: https://time.com/4289610/firefighter-wife-breastfeeding-photo/ author: Melissa Chan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-04-11T19:59:02.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:31:32.670Z og:title: Photo of Firefighter’s Wife Nursing in His Uniform Criticized og:description: She was wearing his uniform in the image og:url: https://time.com/4289610/firefighter-wife-breastfeeding-photo/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt35088cc5ff298d65/69888ea02dce01a6299e89a8/tara-ruby-breastfeeding-firefighter.jpg?branch=production&width=1920&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: tara-ruby-breastfeeding-firefighter og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Photo of Firefighter’s Wife Nursing in His Uniform Criticized twitter:description: She was wearing his uniform in the image twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt35088cc5ff298d65/69888ea02dce01a6299e89a8/tara-ruby-breastfeeding-firefighter.jpg?branch=production&width=1920&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Firefighter’s Wife Criticized for Breastfeeding in His Uniform  by [Melissa Chan](https://time.com/author/melissa-chan/)  ## Melissa Chan Apr 11, 2016 7:59 PM UTC  Tara Ruby Photography  by [Melissa Chan](https://time.com/author/melissa-chan/)  ## Melissa Chan Apr 11, 2016 7:59 PM UTC The photographer who snapped [a widely shared picture](http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2016/04/11/breast-feeding-photo-controversy/82884434/) of a woman breastfeeding her son while wearing her husband’s firefighter uniform said critics of the controversial image are detracting from its intended message of female empowerment. Tara Ruby, a Texas-based photographer, said the photo she took was meant to be positive and inspiring to mothers of newborns who nurse while juggling demanding jobs, Las Cruces _Sun-News_ reports. “The message is that you can be a full-time breast-feeding mom and work a full-time job and do both really well,” Ruby told the newspaper. The firefighter’s wife, whose name has not yet been released, was “standing as a model for all the moms that actually are firefighters that are breast-feeding,” the photographer said. Instead, her husband — a New Mexico firefighter, who works in Las Cruces — may face disciplinary action after an investigation into the photo, [according to KFOX-TV](http://kfoxtv.com/news/local/firefighter-faces-discipline-up-to-unpaid-leave-for-wifes-breast-feeding-photo-04-04-2016). However, the fire department’s policy on uniforms does not specifically say if a spouse is allowed to wear a uniform, KFOX reports. “They’re not supporting the normalizing of breast-feeding … or supporting anyone coming in and breast-feeding in uniform,” Ruby said. “It just seems like it’s a double standard.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4289610/firefighter-wife-breastfeeding-photo/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4289610/firefighter-wife-breastfeeding-photo/"},"headline":"Firefighter’s Wife Criticized for Breastfeeding in His Uniform","datePublished":"2016-04-11T19:59:02.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:31:32.670Z","description":"Photographer defends image as representation of female empowerment","url":"https://time.com/4289610/firefighter-wife-breastfeeding-photo/","keywords":["Newsfeed","New Mexico"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt35088cc5ff298d65/69888ea02dce01a6299e89a8/tara-ruby-breastfeeding-firefighter.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Melissa Chan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/melissa-chan/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt35088cc5ff298d65/69888ea02dce01a6299e89a8/tara-ruby-breastfeeding-firefighter.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"tara-ruby-breastfeeding-firefighter","caption":"tara-ruby-breastfeeding-firefighter","creditText":"Tara Ruby Photography","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4289610/firefighter-wife-breastfeeding-photo/","name":"Firefighter’s Wife Criticized for Breastfeeding in His Uniform"}}]}] ```