The idea of the photographer's studio as a site of fantasy and make-believe, where identities can be magically altered or multiplied, is central to much erotic photography and to classic Hollywood portraiture. But even the humblest clients of early small-town studios, posed in not-quite-fitting Sunday clothes before painted backdrops, hoped to appear more alluring and dignified than in real life. The camera's mythic ability to confer sophistication and status still draws studio clients in Africa and India.
The makeover experience—intensive making-up and hairstyling followed by a portrait session—established itself in Western high-street photography from the 1980s, fitting neatly with related services like model work and wedding photography. Clients are mainly or exclusively women, pleasing a partner or simply themselves; as one Australian studio put it, ‘We specialise in the mums and the grandmums who have “done their time” and sacrificed for their family, and would now like a morning just for themselves to be totally pampered.’ Celebrity culture, and the importance of self-presentation in Western societies, are key influences. (In post-Unification Germany, the transformation of East German women for the Western job market became a profitable business.) More exotic makeover modes, involving sets and costumes, are limited only by the client's willingness to pay and the studio's resources.
Makeover photography's erotic variant is boudoir photography. Its purpose is to create seductive images of the female client, again either for presentation to a partner or for her own satisfaction. Erotic portraiture has a long history, but its modern, shopping-mall manifestation dates from America in the early 1980s. It is both lucrative and challenging. Creating glamorous images of self-selected ‘real people’ is harder than working with professional models. A performance must be elicited, either on a studio ‘set’ or at home. Weight, height, and complexion problems must be masked by styling and lighting. Success requires tact, and an intuitive ability to realize the client's erotic self-image, with or without a partner in mind. Spontaneity must be balanced with careful preparation; private fantasies with current media fashions; sexual rapport between photographer and subject with an atmosphere of tastefulness and security. Given that flattering the client, rather than raw titillation, is the aim, mastery in these areas is hard for amateurs to match, even with sophisticated equipment. Boudoir photographers' files would offer fascinating insights into fashions in contemporary eroticism. Discretion, however, is the lifeblood of the business.
— Robin Lenman
See also posing for the camera; staged photography.Bibliography
- Venticinque, M., Boudoir Photography: The Fantasy Exposed (1986)
