76. Capturing Confidence: Empowering Women in Boudoir Photography - Deborah Welsh's Perspective

Hi, we're Cinthia Varkevisser And Michelle Walters, co-hosts of Mind Power Meets Mystic. Our weekly show is here to expand your mind to what's possible, uplift your spirits, and help you move forward with confidence and joy. We aim to create a space for your collaboration with the invisible. Welcome to Mind Power Meets Mystic.

Welcome, you are listening to Mind Power Meets Mystic. I am so excited this morning to be interviewing Deborah Welsh. This is Michelle Walters coming to you; my partner Cinthia Varkevisser has the day off. Deborah is a boudoir and portrait photographer in the East Bay of California. She has been a professional photographer for over 30 years. And this is the most powerful self-love experience that she's ever been able to bring to her clients. She opened her boudoir photography studio in the East Bay because she wanted to offer women a safe space, women of all sizes, women of all shapes, to feel comfortable and at ease, allowing for the magic that happens to capture beautiful images of themselves looking their very best. So welcome, Deborah, to Mind Power Meets Mystic. Well, thank you, Michelle. Glad to be here.

So, Deborah, not all photographers go into boudoir work. Matter of fact, you are the first photographer that I've met who goes into boudoir work. Tell our listeners a little bit about you and your photography and specifically how you got from being a more generalist photographer to doing this kind of specialized work.

Right. Well, I've been doing it for over 30 years, and I love working with women. It goes back to when I was a young girl, teased and maybe even bullied about my body. It's tough when you have body issues throughout your life. So, I wanted to create a place where women can come, feel safe, have fun, and express themselves however they feel. I started it back in the late '70s and '80s, doing more nudes. I hadn't heard the word boudoir, so I got some girlfriends to come over, and we started messing around, photographing nudes. They turned out beautiful. My background is from Brooks Institute of Photography, and I started a studio in San Francisco. I opened the boudoir in the mid-'90s.

Initially, women came in for milestones like birthdays, for loved ones, maternity, and more. It was open, and then I started peeling back the layers, wanting to do more boudoir and help women, regardless of their size. It's a celebration of yourself, directed toward women in their 40s, 50s, 60s, and even 70s. Once you turn 40, you start realizing you have wisdom and hopefully confidence. I help with that. You just have to be open to it. It's a little scary but exciting in that scariness.

Michelle: A little scary. But kind of exciting in that scariness, right?

Exactly. Once you turn 40, you start realizing you have wisdom and hopefully confidence. I help with that. You just have to be open to it. It's a little scary but exciting in that scariness.

Michelle: A little scary. But kind of exciting in that scariness, right?

Exactly. I had one woman say, "I'm turning 50, and I want to document my body. It's going downhill from here." Another said, "This is so much fun, like an E-ticket." And if you don't know what an E-ticket is...

Michelle: I know what an E-ticket is.

Deborah: Well, it's just always been part of my background and what I love to do—how I love to help women. It's a celebration of themselves, directed toward women in their 40s, 50s, 60s, and even 70s. Once you turn 40, you start realizing you have wisdom and hopefully confidence, and I'll help you with that. You just have to be open to it. It's a little scary, but kind of exciting in that scariness.

Michelle: Very few women my age—I'm in my mid-50s—are real comfortable with the camera on me in very, very little. I guess the younger generation is growing up with a different world of photographic expectations. But certainly amongst women over 40, over 50, this isn't something that you do every day. It's not something you think about that much. And yet, it's kind of the ultimate, in my way, thinking of sort of female empowerment. It's like, "Oh, I'm so good with myself that I can do this." It's exciting in that way.

Deborah: It's a celebration of you, your body, your confidence, self-imaging. After a certain age, we start feeling like we're not as pretty as we used to be, or the way we used to be. We're starting to feel invisible and not heard. I want these women to feel their self-worth, who they are, and whatever they want to do. I'm open.

Michelle: That's pretty much what the studio is about here in Martinez.

Deborah: Do most of your photoshoots happen in your studio? Or do you go out to women and photograph them in their homes in their bedrooms?

Deborah: I can do that. I can do it in their homes. We've rented hotel rooms. Nature can be fun. Some women are exhibitionists and don't care.

Michelle: Well, you've been doing this for a long time. You've probably seen women who kind of run the gamut, I would guess, in terms of shyness to exhibitionist.

Deborah: Yeah. Back in the early days, I think it was more freeing, and people didn't really worry about all of these things. We didn't have the internet back then. Hey, you didn't really have to worry about your blocks being distributed widely because they were on print and film.

Michelle: Now the whole world of photography has completely changed.

Deborah: Yeah. So it's all about the woman feeling safe wherever we are. If they let me use one of their images for advertising or on my website, just to show as a portfolio—not to sell but just to show what I do and the experience.

Michelle: You can see some of that on the website. There are testimonials, and if you want to have a one-to-one and come to the studio and check it out, I'm more than happy to show you the studio and the whole thing. It's a day, it's a half a day, worth some fun. You get the makeup, you get the hair, you get the champagne, I have treats.

Deborah: Yeah. And not only that, when I get my 40 women, and I'm halfway there, I'm going to have a celebration and a gala event. I'm so far bringing one photo of each woman up to a 16 by 20. And we're going to have a show. We're going to have champagne, and we're going to look at all everybody's photos.

Michelle: What a fabulous party. That sounds magnificent.

Deborah: Yeah. It's one to remind all of our listeners that you are here with us on Mind Power Meets Mystic. I am Michelle Walters, I'm the mind power of the equation. Cinthia Varkevisser is our mystic, and she has the day off. We would love it if you would subscribe to our show. Share this with a friend. We are having such a great time doing this. And we need your continued support. So please give us a rating, review, send us an email, tell us what you think, and be sure to subscribe and share the show with people that you know and love. Because who doesn't want to know more about female boudoir photography? I mean, just let me tell you, it's just the way it is.

So, Valentine's Day: 2024

Deborah: We can bring props, candy, chocolate-covered strawberries, and chocolate and just do whatever you want. We can do some whipped cream. I have a shower scene at the studio. It's outside and might be a little cold these days to go out there and do the shower scene. But it's really a pretty fabulous shower, and IVs everywhere. I just want this Valentine's Day to be a special day for them. I'm going to do some sort of a discount. They're going to have to call me and find out if they're hearing this. They're going to know that there's a discount.

Michelle: So, if they want to find out, they should call you. And they can get your phone number on your website, which is awomansessence.com.

Deborah: Yes.

Michelle: Tell us a story, Deborah, about a woman who maybe was a little bit nervous going into this session and what the session did for her. You've worked with hundreds, maybe, of women. But is there one story that you might be able to share with our listeners about kind of the personal transformation that happened for a particular client with this boudoir photography session?

Deborah: Yes, there was a woman, I think she was in her 70s. She was outgoing and full of life but unsure of herself as far as how her body looked. It was my challenge to make her feel good about herself and photograph her in a way where she's going to look at herself probably in a different light and see herself and say, "Wow, it's through the perspective of her, and then it's through the perspective of me photographing her. And how I see her is going to be totally different than what she sees." So if she's worried about her legs, butt, body, and stomach, we're going to work on those places, maybe do some body escapes, and have fun with it. I want her to acknowledge her body just the way it is and say, "Oh, I really love that."

Michelle: I really love that. I can imagine how a photograph taken by someone else at the right angle could make a part of my body that I was kind of like, "Meh, could be better, looked better 20 years ago." But I can imagine how you, as another person, with the experience you have with the camera, could take some of those curves that might not feel true, might not be your favorite parts of yourself, and really, by looking at them from a different perspective, come out looking like, "Actually, I got a nice butt, just not the way I'm looking at it. If I look at it this way, it looks really fantastic."

Deborah: Exactly. This woman ended up buying photos and an album and wanting a lot of them in black and white and soft focus. So that's what I did for her. I printed a 16 by 24 of her in a very glamorous old Hollywood style.

Michelle: Beautiful.

Deborah: Oh, wait.

Michelle: Yeah, yeah. And she loved it.

Deborah: She loved it. There are so many stories; it would take me, you know, how much time do we have?

Michelle: We don't have time for all the stories. But I think it's really helpful for somebody to have a better idea of what might be the outcome of choosing to do a session with you, like what it's—it's a special day, it's a big party. It's something you don't do all that often, maybe for a big birthday or for a big milestone to mark a certain occasion, right? But it sounds like just a fabulous and get Valentine's Day. It's all about love and getting into the role. I can kind of imagine that, in some ways, the opportunity to come to the studio and have this sort of session is a chance to play with your self-expression, right? For the person who's there, it's a chance to play with, "Who am I? Who could I be? How could I have fun?" It's a stage, really.

Deborah: Exactly. You kind of do peel back the onion of who you are and play with a persona. It doesn't have to be serious, but it definitely is a fun time. So, I look forward to it.

Michelle: I can tell you love your work, Deborah. That's what makes the magic happen, right? When people really love their work and love seeing the great things they're able to bring to their clients. If you go to my Instagram page, you will see some of the videos of me photographing the women. So, it's @boudoirbydeborah is my Instagram profile.

Michelle: Excellent. A little B-roll.

Deborah: Yeah, a little B-roll.

Michelle: I didn't know what that was until a couple of years ago. Now, I get it.

Deborah: How fun.

Michelle: Well, I want to thank you, Deborah. We will include the links to your website and your Instagram in the show notes for this video and podcast. And thank you so much for telling us about this boudoir photography. I know a lot of people out there are looking for ways to celebrate themselves, uplift, and feel that sort of love and sexiness. And I just love it and know that you are going to flourish this year with more and more women coming to you for that special celebration of themselves.

Deborah: Yes, and thank you. I just want you to know that I'm not the only one doing this. This is going on across the country. This 40 over 40 self-love experience where women over the ages of 40 are expressing themselves and coming out. If you look on my landing page, you'll see a map and all the pins are everyone that's doing this right now.

Michelle: Genius. That's great because I'm here in Martinez with you, but not everybody is going to be able to make it to your studio. So it's good to know that this is available all over the place.

Deborah: We're going to have to get you in there.

Michelle: We'll see. I'm still trying to come up with what is my word for this year. It might have to do with what I choose.

Deborah: Thank you, Deborah, and thank you for your time.

Michelle: Okay. Bye-bye.

Deborah: Bye-bye.

You've been listening to Mind Power Meets Mystic.