minneapolis boudoir studio | standards of beauty are arbitrary through the eyes of history and you are beautiful just as you are today

I can’t recall where I picked up the knowledge or where I’ve seen the examples, it could have been one place or many pieces collected over time — but as a straight up art history nerd, I can tell you that the artistic record of figure art, especially of women subjects, reveals a HUGE range for what is considered beautiful at different points of history. The pattern that you’ll most notably find is that what is considered beautiful in the human form is a reflection of what defines wealth or status at the time.

So, during times of famine and starvation, you see full-bodied women with rolls and dimples — the “extra” on their body seen as beautiful because it reflects the health and abundance they have access to. During times in history where the poor needed to work outdoors in the sun, and the wealthy had the luxury of staying indoors, we saw that women’s beauty was defined by a very light complexion. And then, when the poor and working class became mostly confined to working indoors at factories or offices, it became fashionable to have tanned skin — to show that you had the leisure time to put indoor work aside and travel, basking in the sun for as long as you like. And in historical times of abundance, where plentiful calories are easily accessible and cheap to buy — suddenly a thin, tiny frame is a reflection of personal restraint and money to spend on health foods and exercise trainers.

What I’m trying to get at is that society is constantly changing the rules for what an ideal woman is supposed to look like — the rules are arbitrary! The is no one definition of beauty! I think understanding that can be so helpful in learning to love ourselves because so often we have judgement for our bodies because they don’t fit into our current social constructs, but how silly do those all seem when you realize they just change over time and aren’t founded in any unshakable reality?

There is no unshakable reality for what makes a person beautiful, outside of a kind heart that leads with love (that’s my opinion I suppose!), which means that every single individual can be the subject in a beautiful piece of art, every single person can be and IS beautiful, just as they are today. That is what boudoir photography is out here to prove and to demonstrate over and over. Hope it’s working!

Here’s what Maddie had to say after her boudoir experience…

How did you first become interested in a boudoir session? And what made you decide to jump in?

I saw the TikTok trend of having your bridesmaids give spicy polaroids to the groom periodically throughout the wedding day and film their reaction and I thought it was the CUTEST and SWEETEST thing. Obviously my wedding day is long past, so this seemed like a good alternative. With our 3rd wedding anniversary coming up and the "traditional" gift being leather, I loved the idea of a leather photo album and I thought this would be a much more fun spin on the typical romantic album.

How did you find Render Boudoir and what made you choose Britt over other intimate portrait artists? Did something stand out to you?

I knew I was going to be in the Minneapolis area over this date range, so I looked in the area to start with. Definitely the thing that stood out most about Britt was the inclusion of body positive images and inclusion of pronouns in images (in addition to the stunning photos, of course). Although I've essentially accepted my body right now, I still don't always *love* looking at it in certain ways, so I knew based on Britt's portfolio that she would be more than able to help me not only look beautiful but feel that way as well.

From booking to hair/makeup to the session, ordering appointment, product delivery, and communication -- did the whole thing feel like a luxury experience? What did you love about it and would you suggest any changes to make it better?

Oh my goodness everything was incredibly luxurious! I did have Caitlin come in and do hair and makeup, she was adorable and did such a great job. The music, the incense, the sweet GIFT BAG, everything was seamless and smooth and flowed incredibly organically. The communication between Britt and myself was always excellent, timely, and professional, and I could not believe how quickly she turned around with images for me to peruse! The space was very aesthetic and natural- I loved everything about it.

How did you feel about the variety in your images? Was there enough to choose from in regards to full body, partial body, and detail/close cropped images? Was there enough variety in eyes down vs. eye contact? A variety of facial expressions to choose from? A variety of modest images and racy ones?

I liked the variety of body poses, detail/close vs. full-body, and modest vs. racy, but I did sometimes feel that I had a lot of downward eye photos. My eyelashes did look incredible, so that was amazing, but when I had my eyes open to the camera there were lots of notes to close my eyes more and not keep them open as much. Totally great and I understand what I should have been doing, I just don't think I translated it well in practice which ended up with a lot of photos where my eyes were open but looked unnatural to me. My eyes are big when they're open but very scrunchy when they're closed so it's a hard balance that I definitely did not achieve, lol

How well did I read your comfort level and desired amount of "spice" in your images? Were you hoping for something more modest? More sexually explicit? More undressed? Or did I deliver exactly what you expected and hoped for?

I'd say this was pretty much exactly spot on!

Was this an experience you'd recommend to others? If they had reservations, what would you tell them?

ABSOLUTELY! I've already told my Minneapolis friends to check out your website and Instragram, and how comfortable I felt during the whole session.