The Evolution of Posing

After school I plan to pursue my photography business full-time after I graduate. I specialize in portraits of women, mostly senior girls and also some couples. For part of my mission, I want to promote self-confidence and take away the need to over-sexualize the girls I work with. The demand for sexy senior pictures are becoming more prevalent each year. Through choice or clothing, and how you pose your subjects- the photographer has a lot of control of how their images are perceived. I pay close attention to not overtly place my models in sexual poses but do try to help them embrace their bodies in a lovely and classy way. Sexy doesn't have to be 'bad'.

After watching todays documentary, I put some further thought into how I pose my models. I do avoid posing them in overtly sexual ways but often fall into using the 'bend knee' and 'glance away' poses. I never realized that those postures could be presenting those girls in a way that  is unintentionally sexual. I've attached some of my own work below to analyze. The model in this image is 14 but her parted lips and long lose hair could make her appear to be much older.

The way women are posed speaks very closely to how we have been taught to perceive them. As beautiful and sexual creatures.  Even in my own work, I have biases for my posing. I would never pose a man in this position. Why? Because I've been taught that its reserved for women.

In the above image, the model looks off to the side. My intention of for more of a 'classy' sexy look. However, she could be seen as looking distracted or unaware as the documentary started.


I found myself very angry at society, but also reflecting on my own work and how I can create change there. I'm glad I'm able to think even more about how I work with my clients, and how I present my image as a company.