As boudoir photography becomes a growing trend, I’ve noticed another growing trend each time I post an image… I lose likes on Facebook. I lose friends – friends that I’ve had since high school. At first, I will be honest in saying that it bothered me because I chalked it up to those people not respecting art, not understanding why women love doing this, but then I realized that I also never said why. So today I’m going to explain why boudoir photography is.
We live in a world obsessed with bodies. It sickens me to watch newsfeeds get flooded with talk of this person gaining five pounds and now being considered ‘fat’, or to watch a friend constantly talk about what they ate to try to justify the calories. It is being pounded in our faces that we aren’t good enough if we don’t wear a size 0 or if we don’t have curves in the exact spots we should. It is so easy to feel down on yourself, to feel like you aren’t worthy. And that’s where I try to spin this around.
With a session, it’s not all about the other person in mind… In fact, girls will book stating it’s for their boyfriend/fiance/husband, but when it comes down to it, we LOVE getting dolled up by a professional, dressing in a way that makes us feel strong, sexy, and beautiful, and we love clearly having an awesome time. To me, I see more girls doing boudoir to escape the reality that life has thrown our way. Boudoir is about finding that girl that loved dressing up as a child, and bringing her back to life – playing with pearls, getting bright red lipstick on, wearing things that we find beautiful. It is so incredible for me to have a girl come in with reservations, telling me how nervous or worried they are, talking about their flaws they think they have, and then watch her transform into someone that has truly found happiness and acceptance in their bodies in a way they never have. I won’t forget the girl that came in thinking she was going to walk away from this experience because she wasn’t sure she was ready, but then when I showed her the first photo I took so she could SEE what I see… and a look of shock hit her and she began crying as she questioned if that truly was her because she couldn’t believe she could ever be that beautiful. It’s those moments that make this truly wonderful, and it fills my heart with joy to capture that transformation.
Here are responses I’ve gotten from clients after they see their photos for the first time:
“I can’t even express to you how amazing of an experience this was. Thank you SO MUCH”
“My first reaction is…Is that really me?!?! Lol Hot!!”
“Eek!!!! Love them I want you to photograph me all the time!! Thanks so much!!!”
“THESE ARE BEAUTIFUL! Thank you so much!! You are simply amazing! Thank you for making me feel like a million bucks! I had a blast.”
“ermagherd! STOP IT! I love them!”
“Today was probably one of the best days of my life. I want to do this EVERY DAY.”
And my favorite response? “You’re a wizard, Harry. I can’t even believe that’s me!”
Thanks so much for stopping by! xoxo, casey