Every woman is beautiful :: Statesville, NC boudoir photographer

During my recent marathon weekend in Maine, one of my clients was having drinks with friends at the hotel bar and being the friendly sort they struck up a conversation with some other people sitting there as well.  They chatted back and forth and then the question came up of what they were doing there and my client told them that she was meeting her photographer and she was doing a boudoir session.  Apparently this other person was a photographer as well, but he told her that she shouldn't do it; "boudoir is just porn with clothes on".  When she told me this I was shocked!  Is that really what people think?  Obviously not all people, but the majority?  Really?  

Boudoir is about making a woman feel good about herself and bringing out her inner beauty to boost her confidence.

As a woman and a photographer this really upset me; mostly as a woman though.  I respect myself, I respect my body and I especially respect my feelings.  Not only do I respect myself, I respect all women.  I would never get into a business that degrades women.  Boudoir photography is about empowering women, bringing out their most beautiful selves and giving them a confidence in their own bodies that they might not have felt before.  I want all women to know they are beautiful and sexy; that they are just as radiant at 60 as they were at 20.

Boudoir is not just about taking your clothes off in front of the camera...you can be sexy with clothes on too.

Just yesterday I read something that brought these feelings up again.  A woman saw an image on Pinterest and immediately labeled it as porn.  It was a photograph of a woman in her bra and a thong, lying on her side on a bed with her backside to the camera.  You couldn't see her face; just her back and bottom.  The image was beautiful and dreamy, done in a very tasteful manner and showing off her curves.  As a photographer, I appreciated the leading lines and the colors and the posing.  As a woman all I could think was Damn!  I wish my body looked like that!  I definitely wasn't thinking it was a sexually provocative image that shouldn't be displayed in a public place.

This tattoo reminds her that she is wonder woman and during her session she felt empowered to take on the world.

Women have boudoir images made for many different reasons.  They might be celebrating their hard work and dedication to getting fit, they may have just lost a lot of weight and want to show it off, they might want to do something special for their husbands for a special occasion or maybe they just want to have pictures made of them in their underwear to remind them that they are sexy.  Whatever reason a woman decides to book a boudoir session, it is her choice.  If she chooses to allow her photographer to use her images on their website or social media site, that is her choice as well.  If she wants her images kept private, her photographer will respect that.  

Just because a bra is lacy that shouldn't make it any worse to show off than a bikini top.

Boudoir is not porn.  Not all nude photography is porn.  In fact, if you labeled all nude images as porn, then I guess the renaissance was one giant Hustler magazine rolled into one.  But that is not what it was or is.  Nude images are a way to show off the beauty of the human body.  This can be done with clothes on as well.  In fact, when you go to the beach you can see almost nude bodies.  Some bathing suits cover less than a bra and panty set.  So why is it so upsetting that someone is photographed in their underwear but perfectly fine to walk around in a two piece bathing suit?  One argument given by the lady mentioned above was that her children might look over her shoulder and see it.  I am chancing to guess that she doesn't cover their eyes at the beach or every time a VS commercial comes on the TV.  Perhaps she should be teaching her children that all bodies are beautiful and that they shouldn't be ashamed of theirs no matter what shape it is.  Maybe if we teach our daughters that you should embrace your curves instead of trying to be skinny and respect your body and not be ashamed of it, there wouldn't be so many eating disorders.  Maybe if we teach our sons to respect a woman's form and not make them think it is something to be hidden and ashamed of there could be less violence towards women.

Make it fun, make it about loving who you are and embracing that.

Boudoir can be empowering and uplifting, positive and beautiful.  It can be a gift for your significant other or gift to yourself.  Boudoir is tasteful and fun, romantic and sexy, steamy or dreamy.  It can be done in full dress or undress, it can be implied nude or bare bottom.  What it is not, is porn.  It is not degrading.  It is not ugly.  Boudoir can lift you up and give you confidence.  A day of pampering and remembering that you are beautiful no matter what your age, shape or size; a boudoir session is a positive experience.  I believe every woman should have beautiful images made of herself because every woman is beautiful.

If you are interested in a session, let's chat!  If you have questions about what is involved in a boudoir session, feel free to contact me here.  I look forward to chatting with you and I would love to see you in front of my camera, rockin' your inner Wonder Woman!

♥xoxo♥
  Kay