I cannot make someone book a photo shoot with me. No amount of ‘you’re worthy’ and ‘do it now before it’s too late’ will ever convince you to contact me. Even though I wholeheartedly believe everything I say I know that they are just words. And these are just pictures. They only really mean something to the person who had the experience (And me. They always mean something to me.)
The truth is that I don’t WANT to try to convince you to book with me. It’s fucking exhausting to be out here screaming into the void trying to get people to choose themselves for once in their damn life and get in front of my camera. I feel like a broken record and a little part of me dies inside every time someone makes the excuse of needing to lose weight before making the leap. (Newsflash- when you say that you are also telling ME and everyone else that you at your current weight isn’t good enough. You’re tell US that you aren’t good enough, we aren’t telling YOU. And by you talking shit about yourself we might subconsciously start comparing ourselves to you. And that’s dangerous because then we might start to think ‘oh if they don’t think they are good enough for this but they are beautiful then what does that make me?’ See, it’s NOT GOOD.)
I have done a LOT of work on myself over the years. It takes time and effort. It takes mental vigilance. You don’t just wake up one day being okie dokie about your physical body. And almost everyone who has done a photoshoot will tell you that being in front of a camera and having an experience where you really have the space to BE….well it really helps them along their journey. (Also the images help remind you of your power when you forget.) It’s a reclaiming. It’s a declaration of love. To yourself.
But you don’t really understand that unless you take a risk, book a shoot and come out the other side.
And in order to book a shoot you have to love yourself just enough and be brave… just enough, to take that risk.
I like to play the what’s the worst that can happen game. A lot of people who live a life rife with anxiety use this trick. In this case the worst that can happen with a photo shoot is that you have a bad experience and you hate your images and you are out some money. I mean you could also die in a freak accident but we don’t go there because you could die doing literally anything or nothing at any point in your life. All of this (except the dying part) can be mitigated by making sure you choose the right photographer for YOU. I am always more than happy to help anyone figure out how exactly to do that, even if it I’m not the photographer you end up going with. I’m definitely not everyone’s jam…and I don’t want to be. But what I DO want is for you to have an empowering and uplifting experience with whomever you work with. The wrong photographer can set you back instead of propel you forward, trust me. The BEST that can happen is that the experience and the images have such a profound impact on your life that they start to have a ripple effect and change everything you ever thought and believed you were capable of. Or at the very least you get a confidence boost (which also impacts your life the same way a great outfit or haircut or raise at work does).
The way I see it the risk is worth the potential reward. But again, you’re the only one who can make that decision.
My shoot with Anne is what I classify as classic boudoir in the sense that there is a person posing in lingerie. Except you know that with me no two photoshoots are alike. I let the human in front of me, the outfit, the space, even the music that is chosen dictate what poses and vibe we get. It’s a very natural flow with little tweaks from me like fixing the hair or pointing the toe. I watch the way you stand, the way you flow to the music, what you do with your hands when you’re not posing. And then I choose poses and movements that enhance who you are. In this way we end up with images that you can recognize YOURSELF in, not you pushing yourself into something you’re not. I also don’t edit skin to blurry oblivion or nip and tuck things in photoshop. You are perfect with all of your unique signatures and it’s my job to help you see that.
