06 Jan Why Boudoir?
At parties around this time of year people ask me why I shoot boudoir (or at least they did, back when we could breathe each other’s air), and everyone wants a quick light answer; but it’s so hard to put all of this into a snappy 20-second sound bite. So, here’s the long version.
I am a boudoir photographer because I want to root out that last kernel of insecurity hiding in every woman, shy or bold, scared or confident, uncertain or empowered, and set her free. To let you- all of you reading this- know that it’s okay to see yourself as beautiful exactly the way you are. That it’s okay to WANT to be beautiful. That art is at the core of what makes us human and the desire to make things beautiful and to make beautiful things is what keeps our cultures rich and our spirits vibrant. We see beauty all around us, so why do we call it vanity in ourselves? Why do we hold back?
I am a boudoir photographer because years ago, mucking around with my friends and a camera, I stumbled across a secret- that you can change someone’s whole world by changing the way they see themselves. Most women, it turns out, don’t really know what they look like, and they have no clue how beautiful they are; their self-image is a terrible cocktail of mean things people have said to them, comparisons to the media’s dysfunctional standards of beauty, bad cell phone photos, and critical self-evaluation in bad bathroom lighting. It’s actually incredibly easy to take a beautiful photo of literally anyone, once you know how; but unfortunately, very few people know how.
I photograph women because I want to create gorgeous, mind-blowing, amazing, transcendent art that changes the way people view the world, the way they see themselves, and the way they see women as a whole. I want to change the world, one fabulous woman at a time. I want to set loose a tribe of confident, wildly beautiful, happy and free women who themselves create daughters and nieces and sisters who dance in the rain and laugh in the sunlight and dream bigger than we can even imagine for them.
I do this because, doing it, I have found my tribe. My sisters. My friends, for a moment or for a lifetime. I do it because I have to, because I want to, because I am privileged beyond belief to be able to be a part of the journey towards self-love that these women are on.
I hope you’ll join us. <3
Jane Smith
Posted at 21:54h, 13 JanuaryStar, you work magic. I was a little nervous about my first shoot – well maybe a little more than a little – but you and Michelle had me feeling relaxed and comfortable with in minutes. However, it did take me almost and year to get up the courage to actually book! The experience was amazing and you made me feel relaxed, comfortable, and sexy! The boost to my confidence was amazing!
Thank you for what you do