I started boudoir because I wasn’t seeing bodies like mine represented in the photography industry and as a result, I made it a mission to create a body inclusive boudoir studio. While the beginning of my journey found me working to create a space for bodies that looked like mine, I quickly realized that there were even more bodies that were rarely seen in the photography industry: black bodies, indigenous bodies, bodies with disabilities, trans bodies, latinx bodies, non binary bodies, etc. One of my strengths is the ability to adapt based on new information, so as I was learning I would adapt my studio and business practices to reflect this: from location, to communication, to styling, posing, marketing, editing, etc. As they say, when you know better, do better. Am I an expert? God no, but I am someone who has been on the mission to ensure that ALL bodies ARE worthy of documentation. Below I have highlighted 3 of the methods that have helped me build a more inclusive brand:
READ
I’m really big on self-education and filling in the gaps of my experience with the points of views of people not like me. Part of this involves reading copious amounts of material to challenge and grow my brain and understanding of the world around me. If you are interested in advocating for fat people, read books by and for fat people (Body Respect and Health At Every Size by Dr. Linda Bacon, Landwhale by Jes Baker, Hunger by Roxanne Gay, etc.) If you are interested in celebrating LGBTQ2SIA+ humans, read more about the experience (Trans 101 by Nicholas Teich, Beyond the Gender Binary by Alok Vaid-Menon, Sissy by Jacob Tobia, etc.). If you want to challenge your mindset around racism and race issues, get your learning on (White Fragility by Robin Diangelo, me & white supremacy by Layla F. Saad, How to Be Anti-Racist by Ibram X. Kendi). In addition to reading and understanding a variety of different life experiences, following people on Instagram or Tik Tok who might challenge your belief systems around bodies will help you build your empathy, your critical thinking skills, and improve your view on diversity. Read poetry from authors who spill their guts through their words like Rupi Kaur, Marcus Wicker, Paul Tran, Porsha O., Zondra M. Roy, Gregory Scofield, etc. Words are power. Words are experience. Words are empowerment.
2. Show, THEN Tell
One of the most common phrases I hear at my workshops is a variation of “I photograph a lot of X body type, but they neveeeeer sign a model release. That’s why I don’t have diversity on my website/instagram/facebook/etc.” Okay, welp, that’s just an excuse. And one I used to use as well. I had a previous client tell me that I didn’t have enough women over 50 on my website and at first I was like “OFCOURSEIDOYOUDONTKNOWHWATYOUARETALKINGABOUT!” defensiveness, then I was like, wait, do I actually??? I listened to her and instead of falling into the excuse, I did a model call where I had 7 women over 50 sign model releases in exchange for a free photo session. Hear me loud and clear:
IT DOESN’T MATTER IF YOU SHOOT MARGINALIZED BODIES, IF YOU AREN’T SHOWING MARGINALIZED BODIES, MARGINALIZED BODIES AREN’T GOING TO TRUST YOU.
Consider this: As a fat woman, when I walk into a clothing store, I immediately head to the back of the store towards the ONE or TWO racks where they keep us hidden. I have also had the experience of being the woman who is okay to make out with in secret, but never in public. Black women and those with textured hair are relegated to a tiny section of the hair care section of Target. It’s okay for the gay couple to hold hands at home, but have to think twice when they are on a date at the park in public. Marginalized bodies/experiences are always secretive and therefore shrouded in shame. So, when you say that “Of course I photograph bodies like that” but don’t show us, what you are saying is “You are good enough to pay me money for the service, but not good enough for to share with my followers/platform/etc.” and while this of course is NOT the true intention of the majority of boudoir photographers, our experience at being hidden from society comes rushing to the front. Moral of the story: SHOW ME THAT MY BODY IS WORTH SHOWING. SHOW ME THAT MY BODY CAN LOOK INCREDIBLE. SHOW ME THAT MY BODY IS CAPABLE OF DOING SOMETHING SCARY. Then tell me about it.
Tomayia Colvin is teaching a workshop about how to be more inclusive in your model calls, this blog post talks about the importance of avoiding tokenism, and look for shoot outs/workshops that feature diverse models to help you build your portfolio if you truly can’t get people to sign model releases. (Do More Photographers and of course, everyBODIES Education workshops strive to provide inclusive models for workshops!)
3. Create a Safe Space
It doesn’t matter who you are, doing a boudoir session is scary af and the anxiety is high for someone to step through the door. The best thing you can do for your clients is to create a space that is as inclusive as possible and remember that while you may not have all the funds to make the things happen right now, these are things to strive for in order to work towards becoming as inclusive as possible. Easy things can include having your “house rules” surrounding body image talk, sample artwork featuring a variety of different humans in all their gloriousness, textures to stim their anxiety during a consultation or reveal, and communication from the start that asks for pronouns and has a mission statement referencing what your business believes. It will also mean hiring hair and makeup artists that have skill at doing makeup on black skin (and an appropriate kit to match!) and working with textured hair (but letting your client decide for themselves if they want hair at all!)
Getting a little more invested might look like having a wardrobe for your clients that has equal numbers of pieces in all different sizes, and this means budgeting more for your plus sizes (they are more expensive). It might look like ensuring that your bed can hold up to over 700lbs (weight + movement can cause a bed to break which will destory the self esteem of your client.) It will look like sourcing a studio that HAS wheelchair accessibility or an elevator. It will be having chairs that people can feel comfortable in and not “squished”. It means asking your client about their processing needs (does loud music make you more nervous? Do lights overstimulate you? etc.)
To go even further, it may be putting captions on any of your videos (using software like AutoCap), learning beginner sign language, and immersing yourself into investing in editing classes to learn how to edit black skin.
At the end of the day, WE are the professionals and it is, I believe, our responsibility as advocates, allies, and activists for body diversity to provide our clients a space and experience that makes them feel safe and supported.
Before I end this post, I wanted to share a little story about how I used to love photographing diversity (as I knew it!) before I even knew boudoir was a thing. I recently came across an image that was from my first shoot that was a team collaborative shoot involving hair stylists, makeup artists, and women in lingerie. I remember in 2010 I had this dream of doing a “lingerie tea party in the park” and it would feature my friends of varying sizes rockin’ their beautiful bods! While at that time I had just started my body image journey and my definition of body diversity only meant different sizes (because that’s what I could relate to!), I can see my growth from doing the 3 things mentioned in this blog post and seeing how I am more mindful about the importance of representing as many bodies as possible.
