It's important to take a
moment to discuss the ethics (what is right and wrong) as
well as the epistemology (what can be known and what is
"true") of the photography I do.
Some of the Why (and Why Not):
I really and truly believe that plus-size women are neither beautiful despite their size, nor are they inherently beautiful because of their size. This bears repeating.
I really and truly believe that plus-size women are neither beautiful despite their size, nor are they inherently beautiful because of their size.
I just think that the world is ignoring women who are both beautiful and larger. To that end, I do not do "fat fetish" photography. No photos of larger women eating or playing with food. No big girl fetish porn. Nothing degrading. Ever. That's just creepy and weird and ew. Ew. If those are the sort of photos you want, we're sure you can Google and find a studio to shoot them for you. Best of luck, the door's right over there.
If you want to do erotic photos and the focus is not the model's size but her inherent beauty, sensuality and sexuality I am happy to shoot those for you. As long as the desired result is uplifting and empowering and always builds (and never denegrates) the self-esteem of the model, I will let you decide whether you want to be clothed, nude, or (as Don Nelson puts it), "So naked that I can see your soul."
In other words, I'm not afraid of naked large models. Female or male, for that matter. Come to think of it, I'm not afraid of not so large naked models, either. Beauty comes in all sizes and sometimes that size is "small."
Some of the How (and in particular the ethics of Photoshop):
Simply put, it varies.
If I'm are doing event or documentary photography, I take a strict journalistic viewpoint towards retouching: I only adjust for exposure, contrast, color adjustment and dust/spot removal. I don't remove people, add people, do composites or anything like that on a documentary shoot. I am there to provide you photos of the event as it happened.
If we are doing wedding photography (and we don't do much of it -- by choice), we will retouch any obvious blemishes, fly-away hairs, etc. in formal shots. We won't however Photoshop the images to make you, your bridesmaids, your mother, your father or your Basset Hound look 30 pounds lighter. Nor will we retouch any of the candid shots. Those are journalism, it takes forever to do all that retouching and really -- you don't want me billing you for retouching on photos you're going to get printed in 4x6" at Wal-Mart.
Update as of 2009: I no longer shoot weddings. But I left that last paragraph there so you can see how I think.
If we are doing fine art portraiture, figure studies, beauty photos or other art photography together (in other words, photography that we like to do), I will retouch your hair, skin, eyes, teeth, etc. and do so shamelessly except for one thing -- your size. Again, I really and truly believe that if you go about hiding women's real bodies with Photoshop, we'll never make any dent in the great argument of "What Is Beauty?"
And always, if you want your photos "naked" -- that is to say, completely unretouched other than for basic exposure -- I will always be happy to do that, too.
Some of the Why (and Why Not):
I really and truly believe that plus-size women are neither beautiful despite their size, nor are they inherently beautiful because of their size. This bears repeating.
I really and truly believe that plus-size women are neither beautiful despite their size, nor are they inherently beautiful because of their size.
I just think that the world is ignoring women who are both beautiful and larger. To that end, I do not do "fat fetish" photography. No photos of larger women eating or playing with food. No big girl fetish porn. Nothing degrading. Ever. That's just creepy and weird and ew. Ew. If those are the sort of photos you want, we're sure you can Google and find a studio to shoot them for you. Best of luck, the door's right over there.
If you want to do erotic photos and the focus is not the model's size but her inherent beauty, sensuality and sexuality I am happy to shoot those for you. As long as the desired result is uplifting and empowering and always builds (and never denegrates) the self-esteem of the model, I will let you decide whether you want to be clothed, nude, or (as Don Nelson puts it), "So naked that I can see your soul."
In other words, I'm not afraid of naked large models. Female or male, for that matter. Come to think of it, I'm not afraid of not so large naked models, either. Beauty comes in all sizes and sometimes that size is "small."
Some of the How (and in particular the ethics of Photoshop):
Simply put, it varies.
If I'm are doing event or documentary photography, I take a strict journalistic viewpoint towards retouching: I only adjust for exposure, contrast, color adjustment and dust/spot removal. I don't remove people, add people, do composites or anything like that on a documentary shoot. I am there to provide you photos of the event as it happened.
If we are doing wedding photography (and we don't do much of it -- by choice), we will retouch any obvious blemishes, fly-away hairs, etc. in formal shots. We won't however Photoshop the images to make you, your bridesmaids, your mother, your father or your Basset Hound look 30 pounds lighter. Nor will we retouch any of the candid shots. Those are journalism, it takes forever to do all that retouching and really -- you don't want me billing you for retouching on photos you're going to get printed in 4x6" at Wal-Mart.
Update as of 2009: I no longer shoot weddings. But I left that last paragraph there so you can see how I think.
If we are doing fine art portraiture, figure studies, beauty photos or other art photography together (in other words, photography that we like to do), I will retouch your hair, skin, eyes, teeth, etc. and do so shamelessly except for one thing -- your size. Again, I really and truly believe that if you go about hiding women's real bodies with Photoshop, we'll never make any dent in the great argument of "What Is Beauty?"
And always, if you want your photos "naked" -- that is to say, completely unretouched other than for basic exposure -- I will always be happy to do that, too.