Boudoir photographer -Victoria Caroline Haltom received and email from a husband who was disappointed in seeing retouched photo of his wife. This is what she shared on a social media site: back when I first started boudoir, and I had a mid forty ladies book my services. She was a curvy, beautiful size 18. I thought she looked like a goddess, but as most women do, she had a request. She came to me, and said, “I want you to photoshop all of my cellulite, all of my angry red stretch marks, ALL of my fat, and all of my wrinkles….just make it go away. I want to feel gorgeous just once.” So, i did exactly as she asked. Christmas rolls around, and she gifts her husband a beautiful hand-tooled album with 30 of her images. Three days later I received this email:
Hi Victoria,
I am …. ‘s husband, …..
I am writing to you because I recently received an album containing images you took of my wife. I don’t want you to think that I am in any way upset with you but I have some food for thought that I would like to pass on to you. I have been with my wife since we were 18 years old, and we have two beautiful children together. We have had many ups and downs over the years, and I think…well actually I know my wife did did these pictures for me to “spice things up”. She sometimes complain that I must not find her attractive, that she would not blame me if I ever found someone younger. When I opened the album that she gave to me, my heart sank. These pictures while they are beautiful and you are clearly a very talented photographer, they are not my wife. You made every one of her flaw disappear and while I am sure this is exactly what she asked you to do, it took away everything that makes up our life.
When you took away her stretch marks, you took away the documentation my children.
When you took away her wrinkles, you took away over two decades of our laughter and our worries.
When you took away her cellulite, you took away her love of baking and all the goodies we have eaten over the years.
I am writing to thank you. Seeing these images made me realise that I honestly do not tell my wife enough how much I love her and adore her just as she is. She hears it so seldom that she actually thought that these photoshopped images are what I wanted and needed her to look like. For the rest of my days I am going to celebrate her in all her imperfections. Thanks for the reminder.
Regards
