“I’ve not always had a positive relationship with my body. I have run my body, quite literally, into the ground with comparison and an obsession with being thin. Over the past few years or so I made a new commitment – a commitment to focus on my strength, nutrition and fitness – to invest in myself and my health without comparison. In this recommitment to health I’ve realized more and more that when I train each week I’m training more than my body.
This summer, by pure happenstance I stumbled upon Jennifer’s website. I found myself immediately drawn to the stories and images of the shared experiences of women she has photographed. There I found that while each story was very personal, a common thread tied each experience. The women spoke of finding this sense of freedom from comparing their sexuality and bodies to the sexuality and bodies of others. They spoke instead of discovering the exceptional beauty and strength that we each carry.
Like many women have mentioned about their own experiences, I was nervous – WAY more nervous than I expected to be. I’m no stranger to skinny-dipping and spend a fair amount of post-shower time, air-drying, free from the confines of clothing; however, on the morning of my shoot I found myself walking up the stairs to the studio with trembling hands and numerous beads of sweat forming.
Jennifer and Kelly welcomed me into the studio with warm smiles and as I began to layout my lingerie picks and discuss my vision for the shoot, they both reassured me that feeling nervous was very typical and totally okay. I climbed up into the chair at the makeup/hair station and over the next hour or so Kelly and I chatted like old friends and my nerves slowly began to dissipate. I don’t typically wear a lot of makeup and shared that was genuinely worried that I wouldn’t look like me in the photos. Kelly listened carefully and created a simple, natural look that I felt very comfortable with. She also by some magic took my bedhead-styled, lion-mane, wavy bob and transformed it into effortless curls.
Jennifer started the shoot off with super easy and non-confrontational poses to settle my last bit of nervous energy. She offered full coaching the entire time, and we laughed together when one of us confused our lefts with our rights. There was no question that Jennifer was able to capture my true smile on film. The experience was judgement-free, playful, silly and fun. And somehow over the course of the afternoon the fact that I was standing in a room in my underwear (or less), with two fully-clothed people, faded into the immaterial. When the shoot was finished and I was clothed again, hugs were shared and laughter and smiles abounded. With gratitude to both Jennifer and Kelly, I left the studio feeling confident and thrilled to have invested in myself and the experience.” ~Miss C
