Mainly, I shoot weddings and portraits over at ashleykidder.com. In the past, before I started this boudoir offshoot of my wedding + portrait business, I would shoot boudoir on the side when I didn’t have a wedding on the weekend. Most of the time, this was just before Valentine’s Day or Christmas, as many of my brides love to purchase a boudoir session and take the photos to give to their significant others. At the beginning, I was shooting boudoir under the general umbrella of my wedding business, but recently decided to give my boudoir business its own stand-alone platform, which I launched in August of 2014 at a really bangin’ grand opening shindig.
Since then, I’ve been working to better my boudoir craft in the off-season. I’ve been watching instructional videos from boudoir guru Jen Rozenbaum and practicing new posing + lighting techniques from photography gods Jerry Ghionis and Roberto Valenzuela. While all three photographers bring something different to the table in terms of how they pose, light and evoke emotion from their clients, their main drive at taking a photo of someone is simple: They focus on the details behind the photo itself. They crave to know the sentiment the photo emits, the message of the finished photo, and the overall purpose behind documenting human beings in the first place.
Before any of the three aforementioned photographers snap a photo of anything, whether it’s at a wedding or a boudoir session, they always ask themselves: Why am I taking this photo?
Tonight, I’m reflecting on the same question, but with a little twist: Why do I shoot boudoir?
I shoot boudoir because the human body is a masterpiece. I am fully aware of how obnoxiously corny that sounds, but I don’t care. It’s true. Humans are elegant, timeless pieces of art in and of themselves, with or without clothes, with or without a camera present to photograph them.
I shoot boudoir because the natural curves of a person’s body are the most beautiful thing I know. The softness of a woman’s skin, the stubble on a man’s face, the powerful delicacy of a man’s hands. Hints of a smile, tantalizing eyes, scars from days playing handball on the elementary school playground. Corniness alert: These are the things that make us human, and they are beautiful, no matter what.
I shoot boudoir because everyone deserves to feel sexy, beautiful and confident. It’s okay if you haven’t been to the gym at all in the last month. Seriously. Stop using that as an excuse to not do a session.
I shoot boudoir not to sexualize men + women or to degrade them. It’s expressly the opposite. I want every woman and man to have that one photo that they just adore. That one photo that makes them happy just looking at it. That one photo that they will still love in twenty years. That one photo that they choose to send to their significant other as a spicy hello. That one photo that explicitly emanates their exact self.
I shoot boudoir because I want to create art with my hands, my eyes, my camera, and a human body.
I shoot boudoir because I believe men + women should be able to express their bodies (and, overall, themselves) in any which way they choose. I understand that boudoir is not for everyone, and that’s fine. I mean, chicken wings aren’t for everyone. Which is a shame, because chicken wings are delicious, but it’s okay; boudoir is for you if you want it to be, and no one can take that away from you.
I shoot boudoir because, let’s be honest — you’re amazing!
I shoot boudoir because it is a tool with which women + men use to empower themselves. If you’re not quite sure what I’m talking about, do a session. It is an indescribable feeling, really. It leaves you higher than any drug, feeling like (cheese alert!) you are the king or queen of the world. Leonardo DiCaprio in Titanic? That’s what I’m talking about.
I know this because I’ve done many boudoir sessions for myself. They were never gifts to any dude; they were gifts to myself. I’ve made a vow to do a boudoir session, solely just for my own empowerment, every year until I die. I want to document what I look like at each year from here on out. I want to see those wrinkles progress, I want to see my hair become grayer, and I want to see my body naturally transform with each coming year. When I’m 60, I want to be able to have these photos of me now, at 29, to be able to look back and remember who I was and where I was in the last year of my twenties.
Below is one of the tamer photos from my recent boudoir session with photographer Michael Sasser and hair + makeup artist Brittany Slaughter. I did the session on exactly my 29th birthday this year, and it was the best birthday present I’ve ever gifted myself. I felt such an intense beauty radiate from within me after this shoot, and I’m so glad to know I’ll have these photos thirty years down the road. When I’m old and moldy, I’ll be able to take a look back at them and remember, that at age 29, I was a full-time photographer, just living my dream of owning a business and working to collaborate with others to create more.
I can’t thank Michael Sasser + Brittany Slaughter enough for this photo, and the many others from the session. Words don’t aptly describe how beautiful this image makes me feel, and I hope to provide the same phenomenon for other men + women through my boudoir photography.
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