Why I Am A Spiritual Photographer
There is a void in the women’s boudoir photography market.
Boudoir photographers are only catering to one kind of person, the ‘perfect body’. And the rest of us are not only under represented but not understood. These photographers often dont know how to photograph ‘normal bodies’ and they don’t cater to those who want a shoot but are nervous to.
It’s not personable.
When you think of full nude or boudoir photography, is your first thought; ‘Oh heck yes, I’m stunning, sign me up!’ or is it something like ‘Oh, that’s beautiful but I’m not photogenic..’ or maybe ‘My body wont look that good on camera.’?
We have some fears, whether that be body image insecurties, not trusting anyone enough to be nude on camera, maybe being judged, or even shaming ourselves. Truth is, we are all worthy, we care on some level what people think of us, and we need to feel safe in order to put our walls down a bit.
As a kid, I grew up in a pretty conservative household with patriarcal beliefs. I never saw my parents go on date nights or self- indulge for themselves and I realize now that connects directly with how they disaplined me. I’ll spare you the details, but in a nutshell my parents projected anger. . . a lot. Here’s what I learned about this later as an adult:
Self-care IS NOT selfish, you present your best self when you feel energized and happy.
It is vital that we kudos our own accomplishments in order to contribute to feeling good about ourselves.
We have to cut ties with societies expectations of us to live a fulfilled life.
We are enough, no matter what we do or don’t do. What we look like or what we don’t look like.
Bringing together these things cultivated a business I have never seen or heard of before. I didn’t see photographers investing time getting to know their clients, validating their feelings and experiences in meetings with them, or taking anytime with them at all before or after the shoot . Why not??
It seems so simple, but it’s not practiced. Listening to someone, validating them directly contributes to people feeling much more comfortable, excited even, to having a photoshoot. I wanted to provide that for the folks who just needed to be heard.
Results of this included:
Being less stressed day to day.
More patience and compassionate for loved ones in our life.
Embracing themselves for who they are in this moment.
Being more assertive about their needs.
Cultivating loving and respectful relationships with others.
Stopping self-negating thoughts.
Ever hear ‘You can only love another person as much as you love youself?’ My sole motivation is to remind people who the f**k they are. We get sucked into others expectations of us and often forget our power. Sometimes we just need a reminder, someone to come along and help us see past the bullshit, listen to our concerns and then get after it. When I help people step into their power, there is literally nothing stopping them from creating a world they feel joyfull in. The world can change with confident, unapologetic, happy people. You deserve to be happy, full of joy and stress-free. That’s all I want for you, and it’s ok to have a little help. That’s why I’m here.
Juiceland
I met Jennifer at JuiceLand Hyde Park location on a weekday afternoon. She literally showed up in exactly what I hoped to see her wearing, very cute and simple to keep it down earth, cropped top and jeans.
I wanted to take on another location that seemed ordinary and turn it into art. Jennifer has had some modeling experience and was wonderful to work with. We vibed really well together even making her laugh by hyping her up during the photo shoot.
The staff was so nice and the shop was pretty empty we basically had this back room to ourselves. This backroom was beautiful, floor to ceiling windows bringing in a lot of natural light, a bar facing out one window, and a collage of flyers and brochures hanging on the wall that made for a great backdrop. This location also included a small record store, which is why I chose this location in particular. It’s the biggest one I think in all of Austin and it has a legit selection of records to flip through and buy!
This location was really fun for me because I absolutely love natural light so shooting by the window was so fabulous and the records really was the cherry on top. I would be down to do another shoot there again with someone else, there was a lot of space that we didn’t use and still ended up walking away with a lot of great images.
Thank you to Jennifer for being so open to the idea and cooperative and fun during this photo shoot!
Model: https://www.instagram.com/jenniferspall/
