Sue came to me looking to see what the beauty they were talking about.
This is one of the side benefits, perhaps the defining benefit of boudoir or beauty photography. Your mind can’t argue with the evidence.
An image held from when you were young, flavoured by comments taken too personally for someone so young.
Sue was not looking for nudes or really even boudoir, something simpler for her private journey of discovery.
Another wrinkle in her back story (I get lots of backstory with my clients; they feel comfortable sharing). She came from a home and upbringing of privilege and wealth. With people hired to do everything.
Her parents sat her down one day and explained she had become too accustomed to it. She was developing few skills that she would need to be successful.
Sue decided that she wanted that too.
Home and family were now far away. No financial support, just a small starting stake. Like what a Dad would stuff in your back pocket as you left to explore the world.
She worked at a laundromat at the moment. Some aspirations that seemed barely on the horizon but mostly grit to get there.
Nothing glamorous yet; she was being worn down, though. Her confidence was getting beaten up a bit.
She was at the point of not seeing what others did. That she had beauty.
So, she came to me.
She had noticed that I had photographed over 5200 women in my Calgary studio. I must know what I was doing, she figured.
That is the backstory; now you are all caught up. Now, she is standing, rather ill at ease, in the middle of a white background, not sure what to do next.
What we did next caught her by surprise. She was not expecting her “look” in the camera. She was unprepared for what she saw.
She saw deeper than you likely do. She was seeing nuances; she was seeing how the world saw her.
She had opted not to smile, a neutral expression that the viewer could take any meaning they needed from the image. She meant that statement for herself.
Sue was amazed how lighting, lens choice and camera angle reshaped her face. How the light altered the mood; the expressive moment.
After 46 years photographing all those women, I have really mastered what I do, what I create. It still amazes me that Inner Spirit Photography started in 1980 and I still get to be creative.
I leaned into the black-and-white processing. We had gone very simple and elegant in our approach; B&W simplifies it even more. With the side benefit of becoming more timeless.
I love creating timeless images. Clients still order images from 10, 20 and even 40 years ago. They find the essence of who they were, their beauty, still stays relevant, even after all that time.
If Sue come back in ten years, she will see her images just as timeless,
I am always taken by surprise at the insecurity of youth. That age from 17 to 28, they have no roadmaps on their body or faces yet. That is all still to come.
They see their possibilities, are for the most part secure and occasionally fanatical in their ideals. They see the world from a unique lens, but they often don’t quite get a good view of themselves.
Insecurities, I suppose. But I am drifting on you.
This story is about Sue, and while my insights are all true. She added a personal depth to the observations.
The full appreciation of a client’s images comes in stages. Each building momentum. The first is that little screen on the camera back. An assurance this is going well, but not refined.
A larger screen viewing, still raw and mostly unedited, but the core of the images, their inner life, start to speak up.
Then the final, polished images arrive, to be held, touched and enjoyed. I notice there is a marked difference between the reaction from those few who choose just digital files and those opting for enlargements.
The size, that tactile touch, it always becomes deeper, like it is more real and more revealing at the same time.
You can admire her images on your digital screen, but boy, to they look even more stunning on a print.
Either way, she found her answer about how she looks.
Sue is pretty happy about that.