How Boudoir photography changed Jon’s life
Hi! I’m Jon, your photographer at Foxlow Photography. I’ve been working full time as a portrait photographer for over 11 years and opened our Derbyshire studio with my business partner Danielle in January 2019.
This blog post is a very personal one for me because it’s really about how Boudoir photography changed MY life…
My very first boudoir shoot was with a lady who had a double mastectomy and at that point I began to understand the effect a boudoir shoot could have on a person. However it wasn’t until a few years later when I started shooting more and more women who wanted to do something that was JUST FOR THEM that I truly began to understand just how life changing it could be.
“A new found confidence”
I’ve spoken with so many women over the years who have told me that since having their shoot they walk a little taller, feel a little stronger and carry themselves with a new found confidence. Their loved ones even comment on it - sometimes without even knowing they’ve had a shoot!
To hear someone say "my boudoir shoot literally changed my life" is an incredible feeling as a photographer who worked with that person to create that experience. It’s especially affecting when you remember how nervous that person was when they arrived at the studio.
“It’s powerful”
When the woman who walked in shaking and feeling like there was no way she could do something like this calls you up 6 months later to book another shoot because she loved it so much or tells you that she shows EVERYONE her album – it’s powerful.
Over the years I’ve photographed women who have lost a significant amount of weight, gained weight due to medication or illness, who suffer with disabilities or long term illness, women with depression, anxiety, and eating disorders, survivors of cancer, domestic violence, and abuse, and women who just don’t see the beauty that is so apparent to everyone else who meets them.
“I’ve seen people learn to love themselves”
Meeting and getting to know these women has changed my life. I’ve seen transformations, I’ve seen people learn to love themselves, and I’ve seen people cry when they realise that they actually look amazing and that voice in their head has been telling them lies. I love being part of that journey.
Boudoir portraits more than any other genre of photography have the power to show people themselves in a new light, to change self-perception and to increase self-worth. That’s powerful and very very special.
“I’ve always wanted to help people”
I’ve always wanted to help people or make a tiny difference in the world. I’m not smart enough to be a scientist or funny enough to entertain a crowd, I’m not wealthy so I can’t donate to charity in the way that I’d like to and I’m not tall enough to help old people in supermarkets… but I’ve realised over the years that shooting boudoir allows me to make a little bit of difference to a small number of people and that makes me feel better about all of those other things.
“It’s liberating for me too”
Photographing women and shooting boudoir is one of the best things I’ve ever done. I love meeting people, hearing their stories and having fun during the shoots. It’s liberating for me too and it’s changed my life.
