A reached out to me about doing a session because her birthday was coming up, and though she had achieved a successful corporate career, she had never really dabbled in making art. As we were planning this session, we went with a visual narrative that slowly builds up. We started with lingerie, adding rope and flowers, leading into an outside session and finally a night shoot.

At the start of the session, A’s vibe was a bit more reserved… which is normal, all sessions start that way. A big part of my process is giving just enough direction and encouragement to get my client into a comfortable flow, and then getting out of the way and capturing what I see unfold. As we shot, I’d show A photos from my camera, bolstering her confidence until she was as bold as any professional model I’ve worked with. When we got to the garden shots, I simply asked her to move around like she was dancing, moving her hands along her body. With practically no guidance, she found a groove and with practically no effort was coming up with poses and body shapes that I couldn’t have imagined. By the time we came back inside and finished up with a few more ties, she needed almost no direction whatsoever, and to me seemed like an entirely different woman than the one who arrived for the session that morning.

Yesterday I was talking to two other artists, and a theme that came up in both conversations was the line between art and … you know. I think the line is blurry when you get close to it, and while many people may only see work like this one way, I’ve found that some folks, people like me or my clients, will see it as something more. Many other photographers seem to get distracted by beauty, and personally I find that the trick is to find a way to express the feeling of what it is like to be the person in the photo, instead of simply how it feels to look at them. As an examples, this means I’m often shooting at or around my client’s eye-level, or searching for details like hands that may express some interior feeling. At the same time, I follow my eye; if there’s something about someone’s hips that draws my eye, maybe there’s an image worth savoring. Garry Winnograd said “I take photos of things to see how they would look as a photograph.” I don’t always know if a shot will work, but its worth trying (after asking “hey is it cool if I get this angle?” if it may be a sensitive spot). During a session I take around 400+ photographs, and then sort through them to find ones that are interesting in a way that goes beyond just aesthetically pleasing. My goal is images that give a journey for the eye, or have some unexpected element or feeling.

For example, there is one photograph of A with her hands tied behind her back and her dress pulled up, there are a few things happening at once that make it an interesting journey for the eye.. the delicate natural pose of the hands, the bound wrists, the revealing dress, and finally the asymmetrical tie down the leg.. in a nearly symmetrical image. This creates a sense of tension and anticipation for the viewer, similar to the tension and anticipation that one feels during a shibari session. Likewise, in one of the last photographs of this series, A is kneeling with a simple hip tie under her navel, and the lower front of her body is barely obscured by just a few slight flowers and a section of rope. This is one of my favorite photos, because it is so tender and modest, despite being a body position that would be very provocative in almost any other photograph that might come to mind. I usually try to combine multiple feelings together, in this case to me the image feels tender and joyful as much as it feels sensual.

When I finally gave A the book of her photographs, she wept with joy. For me, that is one of the greatest feelings. To give someone a unique experience and let them see themselves in a new way.
Thank you for reading, if you like what I’ve written or it gives you an idea, feel free to leave a comment. And of course, shoot me a message if you are curious about having a session of your own.