Well, it’s official! I’m getting my site all set up and ready to go, including my blog. This is the press release going out in the next few days…
Local photographer focuses on plus-size community
Seattle, WA—Local photographer, Molly Bennett, is taking her photography to a larger audience – literally.
After several years as a portrait, wedding and family photographer, Bennett is now focusing on boudoir (or “pin-up”) photography for plus-sized individuals with her new company, “Fat Bottom Boudoir.” The first business of its kind, Fat Bottom Boudoir caters to the needs of larger-bodied individuals and other marginalized communities.
“I want to show people that they are sexy, even if the rest of society tells them otherwise,” says Bennett. “Especially with the media frenzy around the ‘obesity epidemic,’ it’s difficult for people who don’t conform to traditional beauty standards to feel good about our bodies.”
A self-defined “fat girl,” Bennett understands what a powerful impact boudoir photographs can have on someone’s self-esteem; 10 years ago, she was coming out of a relationship with someone who told her she was getting to be “too fat,” to be attractive.
“For awhile, I totally bought into that mentality,” Bennett says. “But then I had someone take a few risqué photos of me, and that changed. I remember sitting there looking at the photos, going, ‘Ohmygosh, that’s MY butt? I’m HOT!’ It was an empowering, revolutionary moment for me, and I’ve never looked back.”
Boudoir imagery (also sometimes referred to as “pin-up,”) originated in the 1890s as the strict morality of the Victorian era began to fade. Popularized by Alberto Vargas in the early 20th century, pin-ups hit their stride in the 1940’s and 1950’s with iconic images of Marilyn Monroe and Bettie Page. Although boudoir photographs fell out of fashion with the rise of “men’s magazines,” there has recently been a resurgence of interest, particularly with soon-to-be brides.
“It’s bordering on trendy at this point,” says Bennett, who has included nudes and erotica in her portfolio for years. While boudoir photography may be going mainstream, the lack of diversity represented in the portfolios she’s seen from local and national photography studios have disheartened Bennett.
“There’s definitely a social-justice component at play in this work for me,” says Bennett, a long-time body-positive activist. “It’s important to me that my photography reminds people that ‘sexy’ comes in a wider variety of colors, shapes, and sizes than last month’s issue of Cosmo would have us believe.”
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Fat Bottom Boudoir is a Seattle-based, woman-owned business focusing on sexy images of people with non-traditional bodies, genders, identities and sexualities. Online at http://www.fatbottomboudoir.com
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