Friday night I was at a fundraiser Halloween party. I saw a woman dressed in 1950’s vintage clothing. She looked beautiful.
I approached her with my card and said, “I do pin-up photography. I want to take your picture.”
She laughed that familiar nervous laugh I often get when I approach women to photograph them. (After all, who does that, right?) I assured her I was serious. What woman doesn’t dream of being a pin-up gal?
I approached other women that night…and a waitress in a local restaurant Saturday.
Why do it? It’s simple, really.
I take pictures to celebrate people. If I don’t approach people, they’ll miss an experience that could transform how they see themselves.
As photographers, we see the world through a lens of composition, pixels, lines, and light. As a pin-up photographer, I see “it” — that WOW factor about you that makes you beautiful.
In fact, I often see YOU differently than you see yourself.
I’ve fallen in love with pin-up photography because I want women to celebrate their womanhood. Just as there is no one-size-fits-all standard of beauty, there is no one-size-fits-all pin-up girl. Look at my gallery of images, and you’ll see that being a bombshell means different things to different people. Some like it sensual. Some like it cute. Some like it downright hot.
Pin-up can be summed up in one word: attitude.
It’s true.
Here are a few quotes from famous pin-up ladies — paired with my modern pin-up clients — that sum up why I love this taking fun and flirty photography.
“It`s not about seducing men, it”s about embracing womanhood” – Dita Von Teese
“Imperfection is beauty, madness is genius and it’s better to be absolutely ridiculous than absolutely boring.” – Marilyn Monroe
“If you obey all the rules you miss all the fun.” – Katharine Hepburn
“When I’m 100 I’ll still be doing pin-ups.” – Jayne Mansfield
“I was never the girl next door.” – Bettie Page
“When other little girls wanted to be ballet dancers I kind of wanted to be a vampire.” – Angelina Jolie
You see, I don’t take photographs because of the actual image (although the image is the end result of the pin-up experience). I take photographs because images have power. If I dig deep down to the heart of it, I take pin-up pictures because of the feeling I get when I see a woman look at her pictures for the first time.
We’re both changed from the experience.
One recent pin-up client said to me, “Is that really me?”
“Yes,” I said. “It’s really you.”
Why do I do it? It’s the look… that look… on woman’s face when she recognizes her beauty and the light that emanates from her.
