I get asked a lot, “Why boudoir? Why would women want to do something like this?”
And I don’t have a “cut to the chase” short answer for that, only because Boudoir photography is so much more than beautiful portraits. I sometimes say the photographs are actually the souvenir of your experience. An AMAZING souvenir, I must add.
I can’t say enough the importance of self-acceptance. This doesn’t mean you have to be complacent of who you are and how you view yourself. That’s an easy way out, sure. But there’s always room for improvement whether it’s mentally, emotionally or physically, BUT you MUST love yourself along the way.
Changing yourself physically whether through a rigorous workout out routine and diet or going under the knife, none of that will matter until you change how you talk to yourself, treat yourself and view yourself. And being someone whose done all the diets and the workouts and I’ve realized that for myself, the reason they don’t stick is because I haven’t trained my mind to love and accept myself. And that’s what the last 3 years have looked like for me.
I wrote a post about self-love last year after I went on a trip to Mexico with some friends and how that trip really helped me work through some self-negativity. I actually wore shorts and shirts without sleeves – something I’ve NEVER done! And something else that stuck out in my mind was this instance I walked with my friend to a little shop at the pool with no cover up coming straight from the pool. I remember standing in that shop with just my bathing suit and feeling so exposed and embarrassed of my gigantic thighs, but there were other people walking freely in their bikinis with bodies like mine. I wasn’t judging them, I was actually in awe of them because of how confident they seemed and I wanted to be that too.
It’s been 3 years of baby steps to changing my perspective. By all means I am still a work in progress, but instead of bashing myself for taking this long, I have to celebrate the milestones along the way. It’s the journey not the destination, right?
2 years ago, after some self-discoveries and realizations, I celebrated myself with my own boudoir session, big thighs and all, and I never felt so powerful.
All that to say, boudoir is a celebration of YOU, no matter where you are in your life. Women do this to change their negative self-perceptions and to learn to love themselves unconditionally. And to see themselves in way that others see them. Plus who doesn’t want to get glammed out and where lingerie (or nothing) and feel beautiful?
The first photo on the right page is the photo sneak peek from my photographer and right away, I started bashing and loathing my thighs. But after looking at this photo more and more, I couldn’t help but see a confident, powerful and sexy woman in that photograph and because of boudoir photography, I was able to see that… FINALLY!
I'm so glad I did this boudoir shoot for myself because not only am I look back and remind myself of what I babe I am, but it also highlights a special time in my life and I'll always remember that time with this session. Thank you to my friend and awesome Atlanta boudoir photographer, Sarah of Own Boudoir.
