Undoing the Damage

By Kristine Kostuck
Contributing Writer

“If I want to wear lingerie, well that ain’t a sin.”

Yvonne Denault looks young for her age. With her flawless skin and dark hair it is hard to believe that someone so beautiful used to get ready in the morning, and say to her reflection, “why bother.” But after seeing just a few pictures of herself in her underwear her entire self image changed, and she is able to feel beautiful, even makeup optional. Everyone who knows Denault would assume that her photos were taken to better understand her profession.

Denault owns her own photography studio. There she specializes in Boudoir- a French term meaning bedroom. This kind of photography captures the models, which are mostly women, in lingerie or underwear. This style is meant to show the natural beauty of any shape and size.

It is really intimate photography,” she said. Most of her clients start their shoot with this intent, whether their pictures are a present for their husband or boyfriend, or just something to spice up a relationship.

Most of her clients find the shoot empowering. “I have a lot of girls tell me that they didn’t know they were doing this for themselves until after they saw the photos,” she said.

Before Denault started her business, she recognized the struggles women have faced through generations with self-image. “It is like there is always something out there to make us feel like we aren’t good enough, all the magazines and products, we never get a break from it,” she said. “Every woman wants to feel captivating and media is not the only way women develop these unreal expectations, but rather our relationships have an effect too.” Denault’s work gives women a chance to undo all the damage these things have done.

She makes this possible by making it her goal to see every woman leave her studio feeling confident in her own skin. She has never altered a photo to make a client look thinner or toned. The only touch up work she admits she uses is airbrushing. This eliminates the skin’s changes in texture and complexion caused by the bright camera lights. And she has yet to have a client complain about her photos. “The gorgeous thing about this business is it really doesn’t matter if you are a size two, 18 or 22. You can look absolutely amazing in your photos because every woman is beautiful,” she said.

Without editing, Denault relies on the light’s angles and the right poses to flatter, by focusing on the features her clients like while avoiding shots that show their unfavored attributes. She also spends a lot of time making her clients feel comfortable. Treating her clients like princesses, giving them chocolates, their own personal dressing room and, if they are 21 and older, wine. This usually is not enough to calm her clients, and Denault says she has had many clients with shaky hands as they reach for their wine glass. But 20 minutes into a photo shoot and after lots of compliments—she swears she has never lied—she gets her best pictures, that capture the client’s personality.

Denault tries to make her studio an open book by limiting her clients as little as possible, as long as the poses are respectable. “I don’t want any of anyone leaving my studio saying, ‘I really shouldn’t have done that pose, I kinda feel dirty,’” she said. Nudity and spread legs, are not allowed because of this and Denault tries to stick with the old-fashioned style, like from the 50s pinup girl era. But she isn’t opposed to making her clients look “Maxim” hot if they ask.

Wardrobe is not a limitation either. Most women wear lingerie to their shoots but others have worn cocktail dresses. She has shot themed pictures as well, making her clients look like something out of a 1940s calendar, a vintage model or a glamorous picture from Vogue. Girls with these ideas go all out, and usually have their hair done professionally or even have their makeup done before entering the studio.

Deanult’s few limitations are inspired by her own Christian ethics. “I realize that not everyone shares my beliefs, but I try to share them with my clients so they know my work is tasteful.” Surprisingly her religion is just another reason she is driven to capture the essence of women.

Deault remembers her fist Boudoir photo shoot. It was the very shoot that made her see this style of photography was God’s work. She knew she had found her businesses focus. She was a family and fashion photographer at the time, and her first Boudoir shoot was a “happy accident.” After building a name for herself she got a call from a girl who wanted to give a unique present to her husband, who was oversees in the service. Once the shoot was finished the girl as a different person from the one who entered the studio. She’d been so apprehensive and was now so secure.

Seeing this reaction, over the years, from so many clients made her want to experience that same thing. This is why, along with many other reasons, she had her own photos taken Boudoir style. Now she hopes to have them taken again. “It is a way to capture your youth and it is addictive, just like a drug, it is such a feelgood. I finally love myself because of that shoot. It was life-changing. I actually see myself as the beautiful person everyone else saw.”

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