Is Boudoir Photography Porn?

Let's put this to bed once and for all. And yes I meant that pun.

Recently I shared a photo of what I felt was a beautiful woman, confident in her body. I was really proud of the image. The natural sunlight glazed her body in all the right places, her skin tones were even and smooth, her body was posed to accentuate her curves and show off the muscles she works so hard to keep toned. She was topless. Not only was I proud of my skills as a photographer, I was proud of the woman, she has children, a career, and she has abs. She loves her body enough to have photos taken of herself and she was so sweet and kind.

The scenario I just described, does that sound like pornography to you?

por·nog·ra·phy

/pôrˈnäɡrəfē/

:the depiction of acts in a sensational manner so as to arouse a quick intense emotional reaction

During her session, the posing was sensual, it was emotional, and truth be told her images are meant to arouse, so does this mean it is porn?

After sharing the image, someone responded that topless images just "aren't their style", and that they leave little to the imagination and that it feels "porny". At first I was offended, how dare someone compare my beautiful client, my beautiful image to something so low, so gross, and cheap like porn. Boudoir is not porn, it is art, it is celebration, it is an experience. And truth be told, if what I do is porn, I am most definitely raising the standards.

I want my images to convey intense emotion {longing, laughter, pleasure}, I want them to be sensual. I want the experience to be about much more than instant gratification, or a quick release. The experience for my clients is a journey. It is about self discovery, it is a boost of confidence, a reminder that they are beautiful, and permission to express herself sexually. We are sexual and were meant to feel arousal, longing, sensuality. And so I know that isn't porn.

"What you see in the images I create says more about you, than about me" -Jen Rozenbaum

I am comfortable and confident in my work to know that I'm not only taking photographs of women intended to sexualize them, I am empowering them to know that they are beautiful inside and out, they are strong, and smart, and funny, and there is nothing wrong with wanting to see yourself a little differently, to step outside your comfort zone, to get a little vulnerable, and get a lot sexy.

So now that we've established that, any questions?