I love every single talk I have been watching so far. Every single one taught me something invaluable about myself, photography, business, money and life. I am an avid learner, and I am fascinated by the mind, how it works, by human behaviour, body language, motivation, emotions, in short, everything that has to do with self development. I love your passion, your energy and the willingness to share everything you have been learning and experiencing first hand. I am extremely grateful for having discovered such a great person.
The only thing I personally find upsetting is when you Sue talk about boudoir and nude, because it is the only time I hear resistance and somehow I sense disapproval, and even a hint of disdain. Especially in this talk, I had to stop because I felt quite upset. While you talk about how fashion photographers talked “down on you” for being a portrait photographer, I feel the same way when you define boudoir and art nude as “showing vaginas and pinuses”.
My personal view, and I am very passionate about this, is that boudoir and art nude are ways to celebrate yourself, your body as well as your soul. Being in front of a camera makes you feel vulnerable, but you can still hide behind a pretty dress if you want to. Being in front of a camera “naked” does not allow any hiding, you are there and then, and to be naked and feel great, you need to be totally being empowered to being yourself, feeling beautiful and elegant. For me a naked body has nothing to do with sexuality, it is about embracing who you are. The way a photographer photographs a nude woman and her curves is what makes the real difference. I see only beauty and elegance in anyone. I do not see sex. I see energy, I see vulnerability, I see art. I see you. And I embrace every single bit of you.
I make my clients feel safe and beautiful because I honour their beauty, their soul, their vulnerability, their humanity and I want to show them how beautiful this is. So, when, in several occasions I heard you talk about boudoir like something you do not want to be associated with, while I respect that is not a genre you feel you wan to pursue, I felt disempowered by the tone with which you talk bout it as something, I do not know, maybe “dirty”. Maybe your experience of boudoir and art nude genre has not been fantastic, or you may have seen cheesy, inelegant and over sexualised images that made you cringe (me as well!), or maybe you are not keen of being nude in front of a camera yourself for your own personal reasons. All fair points, but that does not mean that the genre is “wrong” because of the work of some not-so-professional photographers.
I can assure you that it is not all there is, and there are plenty of fantastic photographers that celebrate women’s body and femininity with great artistry, respect and elegance, and I personally believe I am one of them.