Boudoir photography an art form that’s growing in popularity

Back arched. Shoulders back. Chest out.

Kristi Elias, an internationally acclaimed photographer, shared those how-tos on posing with her client, Natasha Creger, who wore a red wrap and gazed out at the ocean during a boudoir photo session on a recent afternoon.

Elias, who owns Kristi Sutton Elias Photography in Long Beach's Shoreline Village, creates what she calls timeless boudoir photos — with women and men dressed in elegant clothing, fashion from the past or tasteful lingerie — by posing her clients for a couple of hours, then editing in backdrops that tell a story.

"In the end, it looks like a masterpiece portrait that's painted," Elias said. "It's something you will have forever. It's a conversation piece, not something you expect from a boudoir session."

The sexy, sometimes revealing photography inspired by the French word for a woman's dressing room has been on the rise in recent years. More than 245,000 people follow an Instagram account called boudoir.photography, and prices illustrate the demand: Sessions for the photography can run up to a few thousand dollars, depending on the skill of the photographer and the work an artist puts into his or her craft.

The genre has taken off so much that member groups have formed to help photographers master techniques and grow their businesses. The Association of International Boudoir Photographers, formed in 2010, offers cash prizes and publishing opportunities for exceptional boudoir photographers.

The group also publishes "PHILOSOPHIE," a boudoir magazine featuring its member-artists, with an online page for lingerie and outfit designs that has more than 405,000 views.

Erin Zahradka, the Denver-based founder of AIBP, said boudoir photography has grown in popularity for many reasons. Women like to mark special occasions like anniversaries and birthdays, or life milestones such as pregnancy and weight loss, or even as a way to celebrate overcoming domestic violence or breast cancer.

"I think people are finding that they're beautiful, and are celebrating themselves as such," Zahradka said.

She likened the boudoir photo experience to a day spa, where women sometimes sign up in groups.

"They'll go into a studio, and it's a half-day or a full-day ordeal," Zahradka said.

She said the association's wedding photographers estimate that 80 percent of their new brides book boudoir sessions, in addition to engagement sessions.

South Bay photographer Carissa Woo attributes boudoir's rising popularity to exposure on Pinterest and other websites that brides scour for wedding ideas.

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Most of the six or seven boudoir shoots she does every month in her Gardena studio are of brides-to-be, who give albums to their fiances as wedding gifts.

"It's definitely growing because more people are getting educated on boudoir and they're seeing it on a lot of wedding blogs," said Woo, who is from Torrance. "They're also more open to having their photos on Facebook and social media."

Though weddings are Woo's bread and butter, boudoir has gotten so popular, she started a subdivision of her photography business for it called Little Miss Lace.

This year, her Valentine's Day special drew six clients in one day.

"It's becoming popular with women because they want to feel good about themselves and get glammed up," said Woo, whose clients span a range of ages and walks of life, though none has been male.

The shoots begin with "girl time," where clients sip champagne and get their hair and makeup done. Then, in an upstairs bedroom filled with natural light, Woo teaches them how to pose on couches and bean bags.

"It's about being a model for the day," Woo said.

Her most requested pose is a full body shot on the ground with the back arched and legs bent.

Some women want to wait until they get in shape to do a boudoir shoot, Woo said, but she has all the right lingerie, corsets, lighting and angle know-how to hide certain areas and enhance others.

"It doesn't matter what size you are," Woo said. "It's really about celebrating yourself. And when you see the photos, they should make you feel really good about yourself and allow you to look back at a particular time in your life."

Lawndale photographer Sandra Surkow began doing boudoir shoots six years ago when she studied photography in college in Arizona.

Now she does 10 to 15 a year at her photography studio, Sunshine Studios.

"I think more people are interested than actually do it," said Surkow, a native of Poland. "A lot of people reach out for information, but they're really shy because of what it is."

She tries to break the shyness by making women feel as comfortable as possible and finding their most flattering shots.

"Boudoir is really sexy. It's not vulgar at all, but I feel like women still kind of feel shy and maybe even embarrassed of their own bodies even though we're all beautiful and that's what boudoir photography is for," Surkow said. "It's to show how sexy and beautiful women's bodies are."

She also has never had a male boudoir client. Most of hers are women from their mid-20s to 40s taking the photos as gifts for their partners.

Though most women want to see their shots immediately, Surkow spends time carefully editing them.

"When I deliver the final images, they're really, really happy," she said.

Elias, who photographs only three or four clients a week and is booked several weeks in advance, tries to create fine art out of boudoir photos. Her sitting fee is $300. Her average sale is $3,000. Exposing yourself

In many cases, boudoir photos will never end up on the wall of a home office, library or bedroom. Instead, the photos will go straight to social media sites such as Facebook.

Mark Carrier, a psychology professor at Cal State Dominguez Hills in Carson, said people are crafting an image and looking for social approval when they post boudoir photos or other risque images on social media.

"One of the main prefaces of Facebook is to manage the impression of yourself that you give to other people," Carrier said. "It's really difficult to do that in real life . . . getting people to say you look great, that reinforces the image they want of themselves. If that's the purpose, I don't fault people for that."

The art of boudoir

Brian Doan, a photography instructor at Long Beach City College, said students have always been interested in boudoir, but he's seen an increase in curiosity lately. Doan has shot more nude portraits than boudoir, and says the latter is not as easy as it may look. Photography is storytelling in visual form, and even professionals are prone to cutting corners creatively.

"It's extremely hard to do boudoir," he said. "It's too easy to rely on the beauty, the body type, and forget about the concept of the spirit and the body language. Many photographers get overwhelmed by beauty and body type, especially male photographers shooting females. You have to control your emotions when you shoot."

Doan said he enjoys photographing those who haven't sat for a boudoir session and may be nervous about the experience because they don't bring with them stock ideas about how to model.

"I love to shoot people who are not familiar with the camera," he said.

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