Misinterpretation

One thing that drives me crazy is when my work is misinterpreted. Why? Because it means that I failed to communicate what I was really trying to say. I'm not talking about "I like your work" or "I don't like your work".... I'm thinking more along the lines of "That photo is completely inappropriate."

"Inappropriate?"

"Yes, because you're married, and you're supposed to shoot only families."

This happens most often from feedback when I shoot boudoir. Not because the photos are beautiful pictures of women, but because I AM the one taking them. If you haven't discovered from my bio photo or that my name is Jeremy... I'm a guy. Somehow the idea that a guy is taking photos of women makes some people uncomfortable. To throw it all out there, I've been accused that I'm cheating on my wife, going to cheat on my wife, or other ridiculous and incredulous statements.

I love my wife, Caitlyn, with all of my heart. She knows that I'm trying to build a business that I can be completely happy with, and she knows that I shoot boudoir. At ANY point, Caitlyn could come with me to a shoot and "assist" me during the shoot. Why? Because I'm not doing anything wrong or against our marriage by shooting boudoir. In fact, I don't see anything wrong with shooting families one day and boudoir the next. I find joy in shooting both genres.

"Okay Jeremy, why do you shoot boudoir then?"

Because women need to see themselves as the beautiful people that really are. We are constantly bombarded by ads and images of what the "ideal woman" should look like. It wasn't until a recent ad campaign by Dove that the American (world?) public started to see that even the Super Models wanted to look like Super Models. They don't really look like the images that they're portrayed to have. Some asshole decided to use photoshop to change the way a model was shaped for whatever God-forsaken reason and now everyone thinks they need to look like Barbie. (Aqua aside:Freakin Ew.) This leaves women feeling imperfect, inadequate, and unattractive.

It's not "perfection" that interests me, or that I find beauty in; It's the differences in us that make us unique, beautiful, and genuine human beings. In today's society. most women believe that since they don't look like that "Super Model" on tv that they fall short of beauty. Frankly, I think that's bullshit, but it's not her fault. She's been educated to think that way through the advertising bombardment that she endures every day.



What we need to do is re-educated women so that they see that they are beautiful, regardless of the misinformation that they receive on a daily basis. I am trying to take a personal stance on this issue. Why? Because I have two daughters and I don't want them to fall prey to this bullshit. They are beautiful, intelligent, and thoughtful human beings and I see no reason that those traits should change; either physically or ideologically. I tell my children every day that I love them, that they are smart, that they are beautiful, and how important it is to be thoughtful of others.

• When was the last time someone told you that you were intelligent?
• When was the last time someone told you that you were thoughtful?
• When was the last time someone told you that you were beautiful?
• When was the last time someone told you that they loved you?
  

We can see when others are intelligent when we converse with them. It's a two-way street. We can see when others are thoughtful by how they treat others. Also, a two-way street. Loved? The most obvious two-way street there is. But when it comes to telling someone that they're beautiful, why does it always come with a grain of salt? Why do we doubt it when someone tells us we're beautiful? Why is it so effing hard to believe? We need shown that we're beautiful. (And NO you don't need photos of you in your underwear to feel beautiful.)

So am I trying to run out and shoot this? this? maybe this? (Okay, the last one looks kinda cool and fun.... but I definitely would not use dance beats during my BTS videos...) So why wouldn't I waltz out there and do a Suicide Girl shoot? I dunno. I'm twisted up about it inside. I love Suicide Girls. Think the concept behind them is really cool. They totally thrive on the differences between them. The problem is the execution. If my goal is to aid women in empowering themselves... Is taking photos that resemble softcore porn the way to do that? It falls way short of what I'm trying to do.

• Beautiful women - Check
• Beautiful women being themselves - Check
• Beautiful women making out with other women to get attention - FAIL
• Beautiful women talked into the scene in the second video at 0:43 - FAIL

And since I've already stated that everyone is beautiful in their own unique and genuine way, the last two are HUGE failures. In fact, researching videos to use on this post definitely had me thinking WTF the whole time. They were just as hard for me to watch as you to watch, I'm sure.

So why are women trying to be super models when super models don't really exist? If they did exist would that make them feel better about themselves? No, of course not. The whole thing is relevant to photography in a big way. We have photographers out there pretending that they're lives are great and all of that because they're trying to emulate Super Photographers. The mythical breed of photographer whose lives have magically fallen into place and their lives are easy. Zack Arias knows this better than anyone...



These mythical Johnny Photographers aren't any more real than the mythical Super models. They all have self-esteem issues and feel that if they pretend to be someone that they're not that they'll be loved. We all think we suck, but we're trying to get better. All of us are different, and it's those differences that need celebrated, but more importantly.... LOVED.

That's my whole point of this rant: I want to celebrate who people are. Women have the freakin right to be beautiful, and sometimes they need to see themselves through someone else's eyes in order to realize it. THATS WHAT I'M DOING! I'm helping people see themselves how they really are. I'm not GWC (Guy With Camera) trying to get into girls' pants and make excuses to see them naked. That's stupid.

Holy crap.... that's a rant if I ever saw/wrote/thought one. I probably shouldn't post this. Meh. We'll see what happens... Jasmine Star Style: Repel/Attract