I am the type of person that still listens to CDs (now, some of you may be asking what is...CD? It's a round disc, smaller than a recor- never mind....) and when I go on roadtrips, I will stop by whatever Wal Mart is in the area, scour the increasingly diminishing racks of CDs and purchase 1 from an artist that I know of, and 1 solely based on the cover art. It's kind of a fun game to see if the feelings evoked by the cover match the music. Anywho, that got me thinking about album covers and photography. Musicians will usually have art that matches their music and their music is a documentation of where they are in their lives/career/etc. therefore the cover art is just a representation of how they felt, existed, were during that moment in their legacy. Here's a collage of T-Swift album covers to give you an example:They are all of her, at different stages of her life, when different things were important to her - we see her go from big floofy princess dresses, to more of a polished vintage look, to dark and gritty, to pastel and glittery. Every album represents a collection of stories/experiences in her life and while you may think that one album is better than another for whatever reason, what you can't do, is deny that it was HERS. Regardless of what other people thought, Taylor decided that this music (and these images) were representative of the NOW (at that time) and worthy of showing the world. It's not good or bad, it's just a memory to live on.If we can start to look at photos of ourselves in the same way: each photo just being a documentation of who you were/what you were going through/how you were existing/what was important to you etc. and recognizing it as a marker on path to you evolving as a human, INSTEAD of hating what you see, I think you will enjoy our photographic experience more. If we could see our life experiences as just that - experiences - that hold no moral value of good or bad, perhaps we would shed some of the shame we feel around certain parts of our life story. Now, of course there are people out there who do things and hold no remorse, but if you have shame, chances are you have remorse about something you have or have not done in your life.But let's get back to this idea that IF you focused on the now. If you didn't wait until you lost 50 lbs before having a photo taken and IF you didn't wait until you have a significant other and IF you didn't wait until your tan lines disappear and you had your album cover photographed today - What would it look like? How would you want to be portrayed at this point in your life? Don't think about who you've been in the past or how you will be viewed in the future - who are you RIGHT NOW? What would you wear? nothing, a latex jumpsuit, a fur coat with bedazzled panties, a turtleneck and high waisted jeans, a vintage gown? What location would you be in? Would it just be you and a white wall? Against a wall of neon lights? Lying down in a bed of flowers? Perhaps coming out of a river? Lying on a bed of satin sheets? What would your makeup look like?How would your hair be styled? How would it be lit? What colors would be important to you?THIS is how I want you to prepare for your session with me (if traditional boudoir is not what you are looking for). The beauty of EMPOWERMENT PHOTOGRAPHY is that it can be anything and everything we want it to be as long as the end result is YOU, feeling empowered. You feeling like you've just released an album that represents a part of your life that will help you leave a legacy of who you were. This means going beyond JUST looking sexy and hot (though we can do that too!), it can be about showing your feminine side (regardless of your gender), it can be channeling your sadness and grief into emotive, raw images that translate the pain, or it can be celebrating your feminist rage at the patriarchy! Like, how awesome would it be to find images of your relatively conservative grandmother protesting the war and living out of a van in the 60s? All of a sudden, she becomes a much more rounded human. How cool will it be for future generations to see photos of you and know exactly what you were feeling/doing/living your life as? It just gets me so excited!The thing is, you ARE going to change. You ARE going to grow, adapt, move, shift, change shape and size, go through hardships, go through celebrations, experience loss, experience love, experience every little thing that makes up the human condition - EVERY stage of it has beauty, EVERY stage of it is worthy of being photographed, because YOU, my dear, are worthy of being photographed. So, I will ask you: What will your album cover look like?
Miss E from Camp Do More ~ Winnipeg Boudoir Photography
Camp Do More is like this magical haven where photographers, models, and educators get together to empower, teach, shoot, and bond! It is one of the only places I personally I have ever been able to express myself as what I believe to be 100% Teri. I can swear without fear of offending, I can literally never wear pants, but definitely don all the sparkles (in fact, people are sad when I don't) and I can be my usual loud, hyper, positive human, hyping up others around me! Part of what I love about camp, is that I am able to shoot whenever I want with no obligation to anyone or anything....so basically, if I was inspired, I would grab someone and go shoot! That being said, before I went to camp, I found these cute little bathing suit bottoms with suspenders from Forever 21, so I knew I wanted to shoot them. I even took my silly little captain's hat "just in case" and it all paid off in this micro session with Miss E. She is the first of many of to come, but I hope you enjoy the first shoot I did at Camp Do More 2019!
From Pretty to Gritty ~ Winnipeg Editorial Portraits
A creative play date with Jade & Kylie is always good for my soul. This particular shoot we decided to go with a pretty to gritty look and use water to aid in the transition. I love working with Jade for a bajillion different reasons, but one of my favorite is that she can switch characters at the drop of a hat (or the spritz of a water bottle). We started off the series creating "pretty" images to accent the beautiful dress, then moved to more of a coy, sweet character in the pastel pink, and the final transition to a brooding, more gritty version of beauty with the oversized wet white shirt. Despite freezing with every spritz of water, as soon as she was "on" she was on and you would never know she was cursing me between takes!
Ms. Georjah { Travel Diaries} ~ Winnipeg Boudoir Photographer
AAAAH! I was so excited when my buddy Jessica Rae told me that we would be photographing the glorious Georjah Jaymes for our little shoot out at her studio! Georjah and I had messaged back and forth awhile ago when I was traveling to Vancouver, but it just never worked out, so I was pleased that this time around I would not only get to photograph this beauty, but also meet her in person. And let me tell you - she is one of the nicest, most brilliant humans on the planet - and I only spent half a day with her!! She's hilarious and an amazing professional in front of the camera! Needless to say, we made our way through a bunch of different looks and she nailed every single one!
Chill Vibes ~ Winnipeg Boudoir Photographer
As an end of the year creative collaboration, I got together with my girls Jade & Kylie to create a hippie/artist/chill vibe in the studio. The concept was started with an idea that Jade had and then tumbled together from there, with Kylie doing the amazing orangey tones & flower paintings on Jade's cheek, and myself throwing together the styling of the space and wardrobe. It was also the perfect chance for me to FINALLY use the Canadian bell bottom jeans I had thrifted around Halloween! We set up the studio to look like a starving artist's city loft space, with paintings everywhere and a lone mattress on the floor and set to work. If you have been following me this year (and even before), you know by now that Jade is an incredible muse for me and when we work together, it's not even work at all. Her ability to transform during each session and move in sync with me makes the magic happen and it was the perfect way to end off 2018 if you ask me! So, without further adieu, here's Jade.
