Redefining Boudoir
Boudoir, as a definition, has typically been the act of girls secretly seeking a photographer to take “bedroom style” photos in lingerie as a gift for their significant other. While I rejoice in the fact that women are so open-minded and willing to do this, I think that there is so much more to be gained out of this experience. Boudoir, when shot for the viewing pleasure of a man, leaves the women’s feelings and emotions out of the situation. Photographing pretty and lustful photos to suffice the man’s imagination doesn’t take into account how the woman in the photos is going to feel when she sees them. The mantra I have adopted lately is #RealisSexy. I want the boudoir experience I offer to be about the woman embracing who she really is and how sexy she really is and showing her a different side of herself. I feel like if I shoot with just the wants of the man in mind, he wins. If I shoot the boudoir shoot with the intent to really make the woman look and feel the best she can, we all win. I feel like my boudoir experience should be a gift, but not a gift just for him, a gift for you too. Realize it is a chance for you to see who you really are. So that the vision that you hold inside of your own head of yourself matches up with one everybody else sees. We often forget that the people who love us fell in love with us, the true whole hearted, non-photoshopped, unfiltered, perfectly imperfect, magnificent version of us that they get to see in real life, everyday. Because of that, it’s become my mission to be able to photograph women in this manner, to give a gift, the gift of falling back in love with themselves.
Although, I didn’t start photographing women because I wanted people to feel good about themselves. I did it because I was good at taking pictures. It wasn’t until later, when I actually got to experience the raw emotion of getting to connect with these people and seeing the effect that my work had on them, that I changed my intention. It was great because it actually gave my work meaning. It wasn’t just taking photos, it became doing something that means something!
