With pandemic restrictions lifted, boudoir photographers are overwhelmed by new clients.
Some clients book elegant nude or semi-nude photos to better understand the weight gain brought on by the pandemic.
Many said they use photo stripping as a form of empowerment or self-care.
When COVID-19 forced Americans home, it propelled a range of unlikely products and industries to success, from stationary bikes to sweatpants to videoconferencing software. Now, as pandemic restrictions lift and people flock to events like travel and live performances, another industry is getting an unexpected boost: boudoir photography.
Photographers who specialize in tasteful topless and semi-nude photos say Americans are eager to book them in record numbers. Inquiries flooded photographers’ inboxes; for the first time in their careers, many were booked months later.
Sarah Witherington started her own business, Own Boudoir, in Atlanta in 2012. By 2014, she was shooting 150 women a year, and in 2019 she was booking shoots a month or two in advance. This year, she booked eight months in advance and saw a 30 percent increase in revenue.
“I had to tell potential customers that we wouldn’t have stock until October,” Witherington said.
After a slow 2020, boudoir photographers bounce back sharply
Tamara Murphy’s Denver, Colorado-based company, All Things Boudoir, is a large business that employs photographers in more than 50 cities across the United States. Before the pandemic, the company averaged 400 appointments a month, but in March 2020, work came to a standstill. Clients cancel hundreds of scheduled shoots.
The boudoir business has stalled for months as virtual meetings proved technically impractical. But once in-person gatherings became safer and a vaccine became available, interest surged. By the end of 2021, All Things Boudoir was booking nearly 1,900 appointments a month—nearly four times Murphy’s pre-pandemic average. She had to hire more photographers to keep up with demand.
“People were stuck at home for months, glued to their computers during lockdown,” Murphy said. “They spent a lot of time dreaming about what they could do.”
Women are using boudoir sessions to deal with pandemic stress and weight gain
The photographer describes boudoir photos as a relaxing, empowering experience that makes many clients feel confident, sexy, and more in touch with their own bodies. Typically, clients spend a few hours getting their hair and makeup done professionally, including changing their wardrobes, before a photo session that lasts an hour or more. Some photographers play music to help clients relax, guiding them intimately through different poses.
Photographers say they see several obvious reasons why clients book boudoir shoots. Some people seek a self-esteem boost after a year of stress and inactivity that led to weight gain. Others just want to feel alive again after years of wearing sweatpants.
“I had a client who gained weight during quarantine,” said Ashley Benham, owner of Ashley Benham Photography in Memphis. “She’s pumping herself up and telling herself she needs to celebrate her body because that’s the only thing we get. I love making women feel strong, sexy and confident, even with weight gain.”
The photographers said that women, who have been particularly emaciated by the epidemic, just want to pamper themselves one day.
“Most of my clients haven’t done anything for themselves in a while,” Witherington said. “They’re busy with work, being partners and mothers. That’s why the one-on-one photo time is special.”
The “just-in-time” attitude of surviving the pandemic also played a role. Clients who come to her studio are seeing their lives differently than they did before the pandemic, Benham said. “My clients are working on their bucket lists. The uncertainty of COVID-19 makes people want to take risks. They know they only live once.”
Finally, there are larger cultural trends at play. Sex is on the rise as cutouts, miniskirts and low-rise jeans flood the runways and shelves. Steamy scenes from shows like “Bridgeton” and “Euphoria” captured viewers’ imaginations.
“Quarantine makes us feel like we can’t be sexy,” Benham said. “Clients tell me they bought sexy clothes online during the lockdown and have nowhere to wear them. Now everyone wants to go out and wear their best clothes.”
“People are depressed and isolated for a long time,” Murphy said. “They’ve been in pajamas for a year. A lot of people want to go out and do something that’s both safe and confidence-building.”
The 2022 wedding craze extends to bridal boudoir photos—but they’re not just gifts for your partner
Historically, the boudoir has been closely associated with marriage. Brides often book shoots as wedding gifts for their partners, and some photographers even offer discounted packages to customers who book wedding photos and shoot their actual wedding.
2022 will be the busiest year for the wedding industry since 1984, and boudoir shoots are on the rise accordingly.
“A lot of my clients come to me for boudoir parties because they’re getting married and want to give their partner a gift on their wedding day,” says Benham.
However, some photographers say their female clients are less and less interested in booking shoots as gifts for their partners and are looking for experiences for themselves.
“When I started this business, I advertised it as a great gift for your partner,” Murphy said. “It’s almost always about a woman coming in now and building her confidence and seeing herself differently, with her hair and makeup done. It’s nice to look back on this album when you’re not feeling your best. This It’s about having such a big impact on the lives of so many women.”
Men and older women flock to complete boudoir shoot
While brides in their 20s and 30s remain a mainstay of the industry, photographers are showing more interest in women over 45 than ever before. Benham recently did a “marathon shoot” with eight female colleagues in their 40s and 50s who considered boudoir meetings a checklist item.
Witherington is seeing similar interest. “Most people don’t go to milestone events like weddings, but because of their 40th or 50th birthday, or because they’ve lost a lot of weight, or because of a divorce, or just because. It’s a big deal. The difference.”
Men are another new group in the boudoir scene. In the past two years, Witherington said she’d photographed about 15 men, up from two or three the year before.
“They come in for similar reasons — they want to look sexy,” she said. “A guy found me because he saw a picture of a girl on Tinder and messaged her: ‘Your picture is so good, who took it?’ Proud. It documents a moment in his life .He ended up putting the photo I took on his own Tinder!
Interest in the boudoir reflects a changing
The culture of boudoir photographers say they have witnessed a huge cultural shift over the past decade. Thanks to “50 Shades of Grey”, the accessibility of online porn, and the growing popularity of OnlyFans, American society has become more accepting of pornographic and even obscene photos.
“My clients don’t all post on OnlyFans, but I do think they appreciate their sexuality more than they used to,” Witherington said.
The boudoir can also be political. The photographer said clients cited the #MeToo movement and the Women’s March as catalysts for their power to book boudoirs. At the same time, body positivity makes more people feel like the boudoir is for them.
“The visuals and narratives we’ve had over the past few years have changed, and they’re changing people’s perceptions of what they can get,” Witherington said, noting that recent Victoria’s Secret ads have also changed. “Photos aren’t just for a certain body type or person or life goal or age. They’re for everyone.”
“Pandemics and quarantines have been tough,” Benham said. “But for me, there’s a silver lining; people want to celebrate themselves and treat themselves like never before. People use it to self-care. You need to celebrate yourself.”
