Embracing my body

What is your story?

My story, I guess, is mostly about embracing my body. A few years ago, a good friend of mine convinced me to go skinny-dipping. I had always been quite conservative and shy with my body. But I did it and it was very freeing. After that, I slowly started to become more comfortable - small things like going to the beach in a bikini without shorts on or a t-shirt covering me up. When I was 29 I was told I carry the BRCA mutation putting me at a very high risk of breast and ovarian cancer. At 30 I had a double mastectomy and reconstruction. It’s quite confronting at 30 to look down at your chest and see flat, shrivelled up skin. I used to joke that I looked like ET when I came out of surgery. The process after the mastectomy is to have plastic expanders inside your chest filled gradually - and during this process is when I met Marina for the first time. A friend from work told me about the ‘Every Body is a Beach Body’ campaign and we decided to do it! I still found it quite confronting, I was self conscious about my funny looking chest and the forced sedentary lifestyle and stress meant I was a bit heavier than usual. However we had a lot of fun and met some really lovely people and that’s when I started following Marina’s work.

After getting my reconstructive surgery and working through some of the unprocessed feelings I had from that experience, I started to feel like myself again. I’m so unbelievably grateful that I was able to have that surgery so that it’s not something I have to ever worry about. I realised there’s absolutely no point in worrying about my shape or cellulite or pimples or lumps or bumps. None. It’s what we’ve got and it would just be such a shame to always hide it. I’m really grateful to my skinny dipping friend for sharing her way of thinking because it was the catalyst for me changing the way I think.

Why did you want to do a boudoir shoot?

I wanted to do a boudoir shoot to celebrate my body! I think that’s what everyone should do!

What was location of your shoot and why did you choose it?

My shoot was at the Alex Perry Hotel in Fortitude Valley. I chose it after having a conversation with Marina about the type of photos I was hoping to achieve. It was also lovely having a bit of a staycation for a night and being able to enjoy going for a walk and grabbing a morning coffee and some pastries the next day.

How did you feel preparing for the session?

I was so excited preparing for the session! I took a lot of inspiration from Marina’s work from her Instagram and did lots of research on Pinterest and Google. The white shirt I chose, is part of the white shirt campaign for the ovarian cancer research foundation which has significant meaning to me. Marina was lovely checking in before the shoot and answering my million questions about what might work well.

What was it like to be naked/ half-naked in front of the camera?

I wasn’t bothered by it. I used to be a lot more shy and self conscious but I decided a few years ago that thinking like that was a waste of time.

How did you feel after the session?

I was still excited at the end of the session because I was having a great time. I felt grateful that Marina was able to help me feel so comfortable and that we were able to take all the photos that I was hoping for.

What have you thought when you saw your images for the first time?

I was so thrilled when I saw my images for the first time. Being a shorter and smaller woman, I’ve always been called ‘cute’ and it was a bit different to see myself look more ‘sexy’. It was so hard narrowing the photos down to order because I loved them all!

Would you do it again?

I would absolutely do it again. I genuinely had so much fun and felt so comfortable with Marina. We didn’t feel rushed or hurried and we were able to explore and create with the different ideas we’d discussed. I enjoyed the story we moved through with my outfits and I’m just so grateful to have had this experience!

Would you recommend a boudoir shoot to other women/men and why?

I would absolutely recommend it to any and everyone. What a great way to feel empowered and confident in yourself?! I would especially recommend a boudoir shoot with Marina who was such an encouraging and professional presence who was able to provide guidance and support without judgement. I’m so excited to have these photographs as something that I’ll always be able to look back on.

Do you have any tips for women/men who is planing to do a boudoir shoot?

Stretch 😂 My tip would be to just embrace it and have fun. I think that really translates in the photos!