wind, skin, and italian sunshine.
Feeling the sun and the wind on your completely bare skin is an unmatched sensation of liberation. I wish I had learned that sooner in life. Sheer bliss. I encourage, facilitate, and artfully document this for as many women as possible and it’s still not enough. Come to me, darlings. Let me show you.
T, here, especially reveled in it. I watched her come absolutely alive in her third experience in front of my camera. The first one years ago a flirty classic boudoir session, the second a bit more casual and bright…but this one. THIS ONE.
At the end of her second shoot and with a twinkle (understatement) in her eye, she said she wanted to be photographed in Italy. Correction…she said she was *going* to be photographed in Italy. She’d already decided.
The light in Italy has a distinct, almost painterly effect. It’s warmer and juicier as it bounces off of terracotta walls, limestone, olive trees….it’s like the land collaborates with the sun. It makes it almost a shame to shoot inside; which is perhaps why most of my work has moved outdoors in the recent years here.
Add to that the liberation of being in a state of undress; absolute magic unfolds. It was unspoken, I think, that when T and I had organized to work together on the grounds of the house she rented for her vacation in Tuscany, wardrobe would not be a necessity.
While she’s always light in her energy, I got to witness her in a state of palpable peace. Even when the wind got a little brisk on that afternoon in April. She beamed and laughed and looked to the sky in unmistakable appreciation while my eyes watered behind the camera just.so.damn.happy.for.her. and honored to document her this way.
At the end of their first photoshoot experience with me, clients often ask “is it normal for people to want to do this more than once!?” Nearly every one of my clients does and I never take that for granted. Especially when it means that I get to witness them step deeper and deeper into their power and their self-knowing over the years.
Women’s growth with each passing year is something to brazenly celebrate. We aren’t the same as we were 10 years ago, 5 years ago, last year.
Every flip of the calendar is a powerful privilege. To be able to document that for women, to show them to appreciate each and every chapter, to celebrate who they are this year and the next and the next and the next...that kind of bliss is akin to the bliss a woman feels when she’s nude in nature.
XK