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Here is a brief overview of some of the styles of photography I offer. Bear in mind that the various styles can easily blend into each other and that the distinctions made below are very subjective.
Nude photography
As long as there has been art there has been nude art. Likewise, soon after
photography was invented there was nude photography. Nude photography is a style which presents
the human body as a work of art rather than as a personality. Models are usually completely nude;
faces might not be shown. Settings are usually simple, sometimes limited to a featureless background.
Emphasis is placed on poses, shapes and curves; the interplay of light and shadow is often an important
feature. The images are meant to be artistic and not sexually suggestive. The terms "figure studies",
"art nudes", and "fine-art nudes" can be considered as describing subsets of nude photography but
are often used interchangeably.
Glamour nudes
This is fashion photography with little or no fashion. This is all about
personality, fantasy, and sex appeal. Think Playboy. When indoors, creative lighting is meant
to emphasize the model's figure and to suggest moods and environments. Models may be in various
states of undress, express feeling and emotion and often appear to engage the viewer directly.
Settings range from the simplest, as in nude photography, to the most exotic locales. Images may
be but are not always sexually suggestive and are rarely sexually explicit.
Boudoir photography
Named after the most common setting used originally: a woman's private sitting
room or a small parlour. The model almost always wears some form of lingerie, usually retro. This
lingerie may reveal all or nothing. The model may be in the act of dressing or undressing, and may
or may not appear to be aware of the viewer, the latter case implying a certain voyeurism. Furniture
is often part of the setting. Boudoir photography often features implied nudity. That is, the viewer
can tell the model is wearing little or nothing, but nothing important is revealed. Boudoir photography
is about sensuality, not sexuality.
Erotic photography
The name says it all. Erotic photography is meant to be sexually suggestive
and even provocative while retaining artistic production values. Images can combine elements from
any or all of the above styles. Sexuality is implied with suggestive poses and expressions and perhaps
even accessories, yet something is still left to the imagination. There's a very fine line drawn
between glamour nudes, erotic photography and pornography, and this is very subjective.
Fetish Photography
Fetish photography exists in two variants. One is glamour or fashion photography
displaying fetish wear, that is clothes made of latex, pvc or leather. The other is photography of
actual fetish activities: bondage, flogging, clothespin play, etc. Sexuality is sometimes implied but
is not a primary subject matter. These two variants of fetish photography often blend and can
contain elements of any or all of the above as well.