Kevin Thom - Hamilton, Toronto, Ontario Photographer

I was a bit nervous about Laura doing these leaps in the gold high heels, but she was confident that she could do it, and they definitely added a glamorous punch to this vibrant image.

You don’t have to want to be a model to have a modeling portfolio. Sometimes you just want to have some great photos of yourself. That was the case for Laura Lim, who drove down from Kingston to shoot a beginner modeling portfolio with me. Laura’s never been in front of the camera before, at least not in a professional setting. When I met her for her pre-shoot meeting–which I think is an important step for getting both of us on the same page before the shoot–she didn’t know exactly what she was going to do with the photos. She just knew that she wanted them.

Sue Upton creating Laura Lim's first look of the day.

Laura showed up at my studio with bags of shoes and accessories and a giant suitcase full of clothes. I encourage models to bring as much stuff as they want, because we can always sort through it to find just the right looks for the shoot. Laura took to this assignment like a fish to water, and as you can see, within a span of an afternoon, we were able to capture a number of very different photos for her. We worked with renowned hair and makeup artist Sue Upton, who is a master of transforming the girl next door into a femme fatale, sophisticated debutante, or any other look in-between. The super-sassy orange background shots are closest to Laura’s actual personality, but she easily pulled off the other looks with style and grace too.

I’m a huge fan of working with people who’ve never been professionally photographed. There’s something very appealing about unlocking a person’s photogenic potential and creating photos that make them excited about how they look on camera.

The lead-up to Valentines Day is boudoir photography season for guys like me. It’s when I’m most often called upon to take “sexy” photos for women. It’s always my goal to produce an image that my client finds sexy, even if she’s doing the photos as a gift for her husband, boyfriend, or girlfriend, life partner, whatever.

That’s why my friend Zura’s recent blog post Sexy vs. skanky or How to photograph sexiness caught my attention. I commented on that post about how I approach photographing sexiness. In this post, I’ve expanded on those comments.

So, the first question that arises is, “What is sexy?” The answer is different for every single person. I can only answer it by discussing it with her, observing her, looking at example images that she brings, etc. to get an idea of what is sexy to her. Then, I can coach that out of her through posing, expression, lighting, wardrobe and mood. We look at the photos as we go along and mutually decide what’s working and what needs adjustment. If she feels that she is coming across as sexy, then she’s more likely to be emotionally committed to the process, and I’d never want to be as arrogant as to unilaterally layer on my own visual language.

Zura’s post compared two advertising posters from the Montreal Metro. One of them showed a woman on silk sheets, with a sort of sleepy come-hither look that Zura found offensive because to her, it says, “I’m not terribly aware of what’s going on right now, maybe it’s a good time to take advantage of me.” In my experience, some women find the half-lidded, sleepy look sexy, and that is their personal expression of sexuality. Some might even find that expression to be empowering because they feel it radiates their sexual power and intent. Because it’s authentic to them, it ends up being inherently sexy. Others are more aggressive, or kinky, or explicit, or any number of flavors of sexuality that personally suit them.

Anyway, I think that first image is mediocre. It’s stiffly posed in order to position and highlight various products that the image is designed to sell, rather than trying to convey an overall message of sexiness. The expression is pasted on the model and doesn’t look natural or particularly authentic. I think it fails just because it is poorly conceived and executed, not because it’s sexist. The second photo is of a woman wearing an elaborate lingerie outfit, standing provocatively and addressing the camera directly with her eyes. To Zura, this communicates, “Hey there tiger, I have some hot ideas about what I’d like to do to you and have done to me, how about it?” I agree that it’s a better photo. However, I believe this photo could be construed as sexist too, because of the obvious Photoshop body modification done around the waist to make it crazy skinny. Some may argue that the woman in the first poster represents a more healthy body image than the woman in the second poster. Personally, I’m not adverse to doing this kind of modification on photos when my client requests it. Photography, particularly the boudoir kind, is illusory anyway, and if she feels it adds to her allure, then why not?

In my opinion, “sexy” and “sexist” aren’t one-size-fits-all. No matter how you shoot something, there will always be people who find it sexy, and there will also be people who are offended. The best approach is to find what is authentic and appealing to their intended audience and go with that.

I’ve included a gallery of my own photos below that I think express a range of various expressions of sexiness.