Clients often ask what drew me specifically to this genre of photography, or how I got started in boudoir. The short answer is that I absolutely love empowering women in an intimate way on their journey to self-love. I wanted to share the full story of why boudoir is so special to me.
When I was 19 years old, I was a seasonal employee at Sephora during their busy, holiday season. Initially, I was hesitant to take a job there because I really wasn’t into wearing lots of makeup.. I was more of a rock & roll, hippy chick. I was just a cashier and honestly didn’t know much about the products we sold, but the girls I worked with were wonderful and I had a lot of fun there.
When a customer would ask me what blush I was wearing, I would just suggest one that I knew was popular even though mine was from the drug store. Customers were the sweetest and would often give me a compliment and ask what skincare products I was using (again, nothing in the store - just good genetics). I felt guilty being dishonest just for the sake of selling the products.
Albeit, I became more and more conflicted about representing the beauty and makeup industry as I started to see the underlying damage it was causing. I saw these women come in time and time again, desperately searching for that miracle product. They would ask for a product that could erase their wrinkles, make their skin tighter or cover up any traces of imperfection. Over time I started to realize that these women, each gorgeous in their own way, really wanted a product that could make them love and accept themselves. They just wanted to fit into that rigid beauty standard.
I realized the beauty industry will NEVER create such a miracle product. In fact, they want women to hate themselves. They’re the ones creating this impossible standard so that we keep buying more shit. And so the cycle continues. We hate our bodies, we hate our boobs, we hate our lips, we hate our faces. Thus began my internal struggle between enjoying beauty and enhancing it and wanting absolutely nothing to do with it.
Fast forward a few years, and boudoir photography pops into my life when a friend asked to do a shoot. I knew nothing about boudoir and thought it was cheesy. I thought it was about sex and for the male gaze. I wasn’t sold, but I did the shoot anyways. That’s when everything changed. I realized that as an artist, I had the power to REDEFINE beauty standards. Showing women a side of themselves that they didn’t know exists. Makeup is not the problem - it’s our chasing after unrealistic standards. Makeup is fun, it’s creative and it’s a way to enhance and celebrate our natural features!
There is something so absolutely freeing and empowering about seeing yourself in an intimate way from the female perspective. Embracing your body, sensuality and your innate femininity. Boudoir is about saying “fuck it” to the standards of beauty and creating your own rules. YOU get to be the girl in the magazine because you are worth it and you are beautiful.
Through boudoir photography, I have the opportunity to empower women and help them on their journey to self love. There is no style of photography that’s more rewarding than that. That, and females are just plain gorgeous. There, I said it!
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