Why I stopped calling myself a Boudoir Photographer
Olga Tenyanin
As a photographer, artist, or creator one of the hardest things to do is label and categorize your work. These words are important so people can find you, and hopefully book you!
What are you? What do you shoot? Is this the right thing to call your images. How can people find you researching these things?
Back in 2011 Boudoir was a brand new genre emerging from the ashes of what was/is Glamour Photography. (Think Sports Illustrated covers, feather boas, big hair, and a little glow effect.)
The beauty and appeal of boudoir photography was that it was for everyday people. People finding their sexy and empowering themselves in new and exciting ways. Removing the veil between yourself and the polished people you see in the media.
The genre skyrocketed into what it is today; the name much more recognizable, and in my opinion a little out dated.
Let’s break down the word:
bou·doir
/ˈbo͞oˌdwär/
A woman's bedroom or private room.
In the name itself; it is specifically a women’s private space. Which doesn’t really leave room for most other people and locations.
In this line of thinking an “Outdoor Boudoir” session…really doesn’t make much sense. I found myself cringing at the word. So I set off to figure out how to best describe my work, That one word that best resonates with me and makes me proud to say. I knew it was out there somewhere.
“I had to break it down in my mind, what do I do? How does it make me feel?”
I put myself into intimate conditions with people who are initially strangers, and create a piece of art that they will cherish for a life time.
I needed a word that is all encompassing.
People allow me into their intimate spaces.
They let me see them in ways they only hold for a select few, with a. camera no less.
I will never poo-poo where I started and the special place the word boudoir holds in my heart. As the photography genre is on the rise, and it has changed a lot. I think I have changed more.
Yes, I will continue using the word on my website, because I want to be found, I want to bring you into my romantic and dramatic world.