Northern Colorado Boudoir | Removing the “Sexy”
“She wins who calls herself beautiful and challenges the world to change to truly see her.”
-Naomi Wolf, “The Beauty Myth”
“When I did my first photoshoot with Nicole back in April, I had just gotten out of a terrible relationship about 5 months before. I won’t go into it too much, but by the time I had the courage to leave that relationship I was a fraction of the person I was before, and now. My self esteem was gone, my confidence was nearly non existent and it took me a few months to even start feeling better. So about 5 months later when I got in front of Nicole’s camera, I was still on that healing journey.
That day, I was pumped up and I was excited but also I was terribly nervous. And those awful comments that had been ringing in my head for months were rearing their ugly head, but then when we started shooting, I felt encouraged, I felt empowered, I felt beautiful, I felt strong, I felt in control. And a lot of those feelings were coming around for the first time in a long time.
When I look back at my intimate photos, I don’t see “erotic” art, or “sexy” pictures. Are they sexy? YES! Because I am. But that was not the point. I see a woman deciding to be proud of her body, a woman learning to love herself, and documenting the journey along the way. When I look back at my photos I remember the times where I looked in the mirror and just cried because I hated the way I looked, and then I well up with pride at how far I’ve come and how much I love being me.
I think our culture (I’m looking at you Victoria’s Secret commercials) has taught us to close mindedly look at an intimate portrait and ONLY think the word “sexy”. And there certainly are photos out there, that have that as their sole objective. But not Nicole’s. I encourage anyone who looks at these photos to look deeper and further. That woman (or man!) is stunning, and they are there for a reason. What does this portrait tell me about their personal journey of self love? What can I learn from this person through this portrait? What season of life does this photo remind them of?
Quite honestly I didn’t even understand this until after having taken these photos with Nicole, it’s a lesson I learned that day. I thought these photos were taken to be sexy too, and you should take them FOR someone, so they should be exciting for that person. But I learned that that could not be further from the truth. These photos were for ME, they are sexy because I am sexy but they are so much more than that. I honestly hope everyone gets the chance to experience and learn this lesson.
We have to un-learn everything we know about bodies, about people, beauty and about these photos. And we need to teach ourselves to appreciate a woman’s body whether or not is “sexy” to us. We have to see her for who she is.”
-Kelly
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Ready to book your Lilac & Fern experience? Reach out to me and let’s chat. It’s never too soon to start pushing your own limits and try something new. We can shoot as conservative or as raw as you like; this is your session, your experience, your opportunity to try something new.
Call me: (970) 443-1482