Boudoir and Intimate Portraiture

Building a photography business on intimate portraits - The origin story.

I have always considered myself an artist, ever since I was a little girl. Drawing, painting, craft, photography, writing - it all interested me and brought me so much joy.
I took an interested in creating art of women when I was a teenager, inspired and intrigued by the female body from when I first started seeing naked women sketches and paintings as a teenager. I especially love the old oil paintings of beautiful women in beautiful dresses, or lounging across a chaise in a robe, from traditional portraits to the incredible artworks created by the pre-raphaelites. I find it captivating and have always loved playing around with sketching women and loved the life drawing sessions I’ve attended. I hold so much respect for those who can capture a woman’s natural beauty so accurately and effortlessly with just a pencil or some charcoal. Usually in such a candid pose as well, it’s hard to put into words how wonderful I think it is.

You can view this whole photo gallery in a post I did here..

So, naturally, when I picked up a camera and started to shoot others my interest gravitated towards intimate portraiture and boudoir. It’s just another art medium being used to capture the beauty of women. I’m so inspired by the photographers out there doing this in an empowering and artistic way. I believe having a positive boudoir experience and seeing ourselves in this light can do so much for how we see ourselves, our scars, and our life experiences. I believe these portraits are not only an important and empowering experience, but also a timestamp and a work of art to be treasured and admired.

I am so excited to start offering these sessions soon. To work with women and show them the beautiful work of art that they are. It can be hard to be vulnerable in this way, but the reward is so great! I hope to work with mothers, women celebrating milestones, rights of passage, those becoming women, celebrating and/or healing illness/injuries/scars, and sessions that are just because - a celebration of you.

I had my own right of passage shoot a few years ago. It was before I even really knew about this style of boudoir and people honouring their bodies and their life stages. I knew that I was to be getting married and having babies soon and I just decided I wanted to capture this time as a maiden to document and celebrate my body and stage of life. So I booked a shoot with Perth photographer Bec Wood of Wild Flow Her and headed to some sand dunes at sunrise where she captured me in all my youthful glory.

To be honest, I have no shortage of photos of me from about age 15/16 through to age 24 or 25. I used to do a lot of modeling, and had photographer/photo hobbyist friends, so I was always jumping in front of the camera for others. This shoot was such a special experience for me though as it’s the first time I’d ever booked a shoot (even though it was a stretch financially), paid it off all by myself, and was the sole inspiration and vision creator of the shoot. It was all for me. And now I have these photos to treasure forever as a timestamp on this time in my life. Looking back through them now to place in this love letter is making me so grateful that I did it!

Tell me, have you done a shoot like this before?
If you were to do one now what would you celebrate? How would it look?

If you have been following me on Instagram over the last couple of years you probably would have seen me offer Archetype shoots. These were so much fun. I had women exploring themselves and an archetype in a home studio setting and out in nature. From nude black and white Bare Bones and Aphrodite to coloured Maidens and the Goddess. These were a sort of stepping stone to what I’m moving into next and I’m really quite proud of the space I held and photos I captured for these women. It’s really quite magical to see yourself photographed in this way, especially if it’s something you’ve never done before.

The last few months I have been focusing heavily on self-portraiture as a way to better get to know this style of posing, become more familiar with my new camera, and really work on my style. Through experimenting and playing I’ve created some pretty amazing effects and photos without any computer editing. It’s just adding a whole other layer of creativity to photography. The photo below was created with just my camera settings, natural light, and some cheap fabric.

This gallery can be viewed here.

I am currently on the lookout for 10 muses for a series I am running on Substack across December and January. By booking in a remote shoot with me as a muse you’ll receive a digital gallery of your photos as well as a piece of creative writing or poetry that has been inspired by you. For more information on this series you can read about it here.

I’m also going to be in the South-West of Western Australian at the end of November/beginning of December and am available for shoots by request only. If you’re interested in a shoot in that stunning part of the world please reach out!