Beauty and Power
It's time to reveal the photos that have been kept secret over the past month or so. I was so blessed to work for many, many clients who for Valentine's Day decided to give a gift of beautiful photos of themselves. Here are a few selected photos from these clients who have graciously allowed me to make them public.
I would venture to say that some of the clients I photographed learned something about themselves during, or after their session. Some were nervous but quickly lost that as we began to make photographs. Others walked into the studio raring to go.
I'm sure everyone who poses in such an intimate and personal manner has their own reasons for doing so, but whatever it is - they place great trust in me. I go to great lengths to uphold that, and I think that shows in the images that you're seeing here, and in the ones that went home as gifts.
I hope the Valentine's 'season' this year was as fulfilling for my beautiful clients as it was for me. I received so many notes afterwards thanking me for the way they felt during and after the sessions:
"I don't think people understand. I was so nervous to have my pictures taken and ended up leaving there feeling like a total rock star!!! So, thank you!! For every time I have told someone about it, and they say, "oh, I could never do that", I tell them I thought I couldn't either and then I show them my photo, and they are awestruck. Your work is amazing and I think more people should know."
And when I contacted clients this week to get approval to include their photos here, so many said they were 'honored'. Believe me, I'm the one that's honored.
I've called this Blog 'Beauty and Power' because I want to demonstrate, both in writing and in my photography, both the beauty and power that women have. Every one of these clients who's beauty you see here (and the ones that declined to make their photos public as well) are just as beautiful on the inside. Some spend hours in the gym, some don't. Some wear the badges of bringing life into the world. Others will. I think the complexity of the gifts women have are frequently lost on us guys. Perhaps as a group men would do better by our women if we thought about that more.
Upon comparison you may notice that there's a little less 'lace' in my boudoir work than in other photographers'. Perhaps that's because I'm a guy and most of them are not. I'm hoping that you understand that I'm attempting to go above my gender to elevate the beauty that I see in women. My personal project "Woman as Art" tries to capture the sculptural quality of the female form. Some of that bleeds into what you see here, but there's also an attempt to show what the camera sees looking into the eyes.
This is a gift that can be given any time, by the way. And you don't have to give it to someone else. I hear from my clients that a photo session makes an extraordinary gift to give YOURSELF! No one has to be a 'model' but everyone CAN 'feel like a ROCK STAR!' Please contact me if you're interested, I'd love to work with you, just as I have enjoyed making images for the lovely ladies you see here.