More Reasons Women Hire Male Boudoir Photographers
Although the genre of boudoir photography is dominated by female photographers, there is a small minority of us who are male — and like anything, there are advantages to shooting with both.
In this article, we’re going to explore the advantages of shooting with a professional male boudoir photographer, something you may or may not have considered, and being a male boudoir photographer myself, I think I have a unique insight on this topic.
By the way, just to keep things simple, I’m writing this from a heterosexual perspective because taking into account all the combinations that can arise from all the various sexual orientations is beyond the scope of this article.
1. Knowing What Sexy Is
If you’re getting a boudoir shoot as a present for your man, then a male photographer will instinctively know what is sexy for another man and capture images that your significant other will love.
A female photographer won’t have the same sensibilities.
The opposite is true as well.
A female photographer is going to instinctively know what is sexy for another woman when photographing a man.
Men and women are attracted to different aspects of the opposite sex and we’re unable to recognize those subtle nuances of the same sex when photographing them. They just don’t show up on our radar the way they do for members of the opposite sex.
The tricky part is that they don’t even have to be blatantly sexual in nature to be considered sexy.
For example, I may be photographing a woman and notice that her hair flowing over her shoulders looks beautiful and a female photographer might agree, but being male, I might want to pull her hair to one side to expose her bare shoulder and neck which would be a subtle sexual nuance the female photographer might not even think of.
Marilyn Monroe or James Dean?
Did you know that men find women who smile to be sexy but for women it’s just the opposite? They’re attracted more to men who brood.
A study published in the American Psychological Association journal Emotion, conducted an experiment where they showed pictures of the opposite sex to both men and women. The participants were asked to rate the people on their sexual attractiveness based on their expressions.
“Men who smile were considered fairly unattractive by women,” said Jessica Tracy, a psychology professor who directed the study.”
But with men, just the opposite was true. It was the women in the pictures who were smiling that were considered to be the most attractive.
As a male, I instinctually know this because it rings true with me. Women who smile are just more attractive, in some cases even more so than a blatantly sexual pose that a female photographer might think is sexier. So when I’m shooting boudoir I’m always trying to get my clients to smile more.
This is something a female photographer may not be aware of unless she researched it and then made it a point to incorporate it into her sessions.
Being male, I just feel it.
2. It’s Easier To Flirt
When shooting boudoir, capturing a wide variety of images from playful to seductive is key, and a woman’s expression plays a big part in all that.
It’s much easier for a woman to actually experience this than to fake it. Working with a photographer of the opposite sex can make this easier because they’re dealing with the real thing and they don’t have to pretend.
It’s a bit like acting.
It’s easier for an actor to be flirtatious in a scene with a member of the opposite sex than with a member of the same sex, if the scene calls for it (if they’re heterosexual).
The same holds true during a boudoir session.
It’s easier for a woman to “play off of” a member of the opposite sex than with one from the same sex since their natural orientation is towards the opposite sex to begin with (unless, of course, they’re attracted to women).
Working with a male boudoir photographer will create that scenario automatically rather than working off a female photographer.
3. Understanding All of Sexy
This is a topic I haven’t seen anyone write about before with regard to male photographers shooting boudoir verses female photographers, and that is understanding all the different levels of “sexy”.
Sexy comes in many different variations with various levels of intensity from nuanced to out right blatant. A male photographer is going to be able to recognize all these subtle variations in a woman just as a female photographer would be able to recognize them in a man.
It’s because of this recognition that just comes naturally to us as males and females when observing the opposite sex, that a wider range of images can be captured covering that entire spectrum.
By utilizing this broad spectrum, male photographers are more likely to capture more unconventionally sexy images and avoid the more stereotypical ones that a female photographer might think would appeal to a man.
Bonus!
You Dig His Style
Another reason you may want to shoot your boudoir session with a male photographer is that you just like his style.
It may be that you resonate with that photographer’s work so much that you’re left with no other choice than to shoot with him.
Final Thoughts
There’s a lot to consider when deciding who you want to shoot your boudoir session with. I hope this article has given you some insight into what some of those advantages are if you choose to go with a male boudoir photographer
Thanks for your time!
And remember…
“It is only in adventure that some people succeed in knowing themselves.” — Andre Gide