The Eyes are the Windows to the Soul
What Are Your Eyes Saying?
The most useful tool to a photographer is their eye. It's not the thousands of dollars spent on equipment or space rentals or editing software. It's their vision. How they see the shot before it happens. How they plan the shoot in their mind before they bring it to life. I think when you look at a photographers work, you are looking into their soul, into what brings them peace, what sets their fire, what inspires them on a deeper level.
When I started my journey into photography, it was just about getting clients and I would take whatever session I could. As the years have gone by, I've discovered my love for Boudoir/Glam and those are the shoots I seek out. They paint so many pictures. Women who gave their bodies to motherhood, women who suffered abuse and are finding themselves again, women who have been self conscious for years and are working to build their self esteem again, women who are confident in their appearance and just want to document in while they are young. The list for why goes on and on and I am here to support these women on their journey of self confidence and self discovery. I started to wonder what the why was for me. Why Boudoir?
Adulthood and being in my thirties now, I have grown to build confidence in my self, inside and out. In my twenties though, I did suffer with the doubt and self esteem issues that everyone else has, which is why at 23 years old I decided to have breast augmentation surgery. I decided I was tired of comparing myself to other women and not liking the way I looked in the mirror. While some didn't support my decision, I went ahead with it anyway and I would do it all over again any day. While choosing a major surgery to help your self esteem isn't a light hearted decision, it benefited me in more ways than I can even explain and I think it truly led me to this dream of being a boudoir photographer. Empowering women to love their bodies while also encouraging women to do what they feel they should to feel better about themselves has been a rewarding role.
The pictures that I get to paint of these women's stories made me wonder what it would look like if I were in front of the camera, rather than behind it. If my story were being painted through the lens, what would it say? Girl turns woman, gains confidence, loves herself? Girl turns woman, lets people in, gets heartbroken, focuses on the outward rather than working to heal herself inside? Girl turns woman, hides behind the camera and shows only what she wants to show? Various possibilities that only those who truly care to know would see. My story, as is the same with most women, would have multiple chapters with a 'To Be Continued' at the back of the book and would leave the reader wondering if there would be a next book and how the story would unfold.
To truly understand someone, look into their eyes. Don't just notice the color. Look at how they hold them, how they look back at you, how they come across in a photo. You'll see miles and miles of love, sadness, accomplishments, hate, fear, passion and desire. As cliche as it sounds, the eyes are the windows to the soul and it takes a truly special person and talented photographer to capture the soul. Let me be the one to capture it.
~Shannon Walker
