Boudoir photography: how lingerie photoshoots are helping women to reclaim their bodies
5 Mar, 2021 04:00 PM
7 minutes to read
Juliette Sivertsen strikes a pose in an empowerment shoot with her friend, photographer Ainsley Duyvestyn-Smith. The scent of the pink dahlias artfully arranged over my bare chest is faint but sweet. Loose rose petals and lily blooms are scattered in the water around me. Topless, half submerged in a bath, with a photographer shooting down at me from a bird s-eye view. I am vulnerable, broken, yet empowered all at once.
I ve been intrigued by boudoir photography for years but have had a cognitive dissonance about being photographed wearing nothing but lacy lingerie. A conservative and religious childhood, I was taught from a young age women s bodies should be covered up, modesty and purity are her most important features - and shame on those who want to reveal their bodies to anyone but their spouse within the bonds of marriage. Later