boudoir photography in cape town

“The Housewives”, Nude Private Commissions:
This is Lauren

(Note: “The Housewives” was a term I fondly coined in 2006 after I started getting shoot requests from private, individual women who became my clients. Many of the women who contacted me were married and in their mid 30’s and were doing the shoots as gifts to their husbands. The folder in my archives is still called this and so I’ve stuck to it, in part just for the irony: most of these women are not “housewives” at all, but strong independent and forward thinking women who I have had the honour of documenting.

All are private commissions and the demographic has changed substantially over the years. Some I’m still in contact with, others I’ve totally lost contact with, some have become friends, some may wish not to have their real names used, others don’t mind, some may have their faces obscured for privacy reasons, others have generously shared their experiences of being photographed.)

I met and shot Lauren in 2007, it was at a time when many of the nude commissions I was doing were linked to the graduate body of work I completed at the end of 2005,- themes such as the French Main, the Bride etc were often therefore requested by my clients who had seen the grad work on exhibition.

"The Bride" - one of the images from my graduate body of work completed in 2005 which later inspired many of my clients private commissions... — “The Bride” – one of the images from my graduate body of work completed in 2005 which later inspired many of my clients private commissions…

"The Kinky French Maid" - one of the images from my graduate body of work completed in 2005 which later inspired many of my clients private commissions... — “The Kinky French Maid” – one of the images from my graduate body of work completed in 2005 which later inspired many of my clients private commissions…

Laurens shoot was done (if I remember correctly) at her Grans house one afternoon in January. We shot a series of different looks including a bridal themed series and many various B&W images utilizing interesting props I had collected – from lengths of strung pearls to body cinches.

I was definitely still in the relatively inexperienced zone of my career and there are so many things now that I would have done differently, but then I suppose that is the value of trial ‘n error/experience…

For example (if you were a student reading this it could be helpful):
I am now pretty much obsessed with getting my backgrounds perfect, I steam them, iron them etc so that there is not a crease in sight as they are a pain to retouch out later. Also creases and folds show up in high contrast when shooting against satin.

I stayed in touch with Lauren and messaged her to ask her if she’s be fine with me adding her images to this archive, what see said made me super happy…after all this time…

I absolutely LOVED doing this shoot with you. It was like a discovery of my womanhood. I felt sexy without ever feeling overexposed. I was comfortable at all times.

Its been probably 8yrs since that shoot and I look at the pics quite regularly still and can’t get over how amazing they are. It shows me that I am a beautiful, sexy woman. I would do them again in a heart beat!

Lauren was 21 or 22 when I worked with her and was by far the youngest commercial commission I had ever shot. It was a quirky and fun experience, and in the French maid themed series I used the great location to add depth to the look.
I think her Gran was having tea in the sun room at the time we were shooting this in her lounge, I wondered what she thought…

A Sunday Times Article on my Work

This is an article written by Lauren Cohen for The Sunday Times, cover story and page 3.

I started shooting these kinds of private commissions in 2005 at which time I was finishing up or exhibiting my graduate body of work on erotic female stereotypes. Many of the first shoots I did were styled on the themes in my grad work. People started approaching me about the images but wanted themselves to be the subject in a re-created version.

Wives’ hot pictures put sauce back into marriage

Women are living out their wildest fantasies in sexy photo shoots

Tired of seeing your husband’s eyes glaze over as he unwraps that predictable gift of socks? Sexy photo shoots commissioned by a growing number of Cape Town housewives and businesswomen- acting out their wildest fantasies- are serving up a visual feast for their partners. From bondage to boudoir and food to frills, women in their 20s to 40s are baring (almost) all in steamy yet tasteful photographs by Leah Hawker.

By day Jane Baard is the executive director of a national business servingblue-chip companies. By night she treads the boards as one of the Cape’s top amateur actresses. Baard gave husband Doug classic black and white photographs of herself in lingerie for his 52nd birthday last year. “He was absolutely flabbergasted and thrilled to bits”, she said. One of the images has pride of place on their bedroom wall. “Some people are very offended by them. I come from an artistic family and my father was proud of them, while my step-mom had a hissy fit and said they were degrading. I think men talk openly about [sexual issues] while women have a lot more inhibitions. This was an expression of me feeling comfortable with my body”, she said. A “thrilled” Doug said he was “very taken” with his gift. “It was something completely different from the usual books, ties and aftershave. The pictures were intimate and personal, tastefully done. And its your wife, which makes it extra special”, he said.

With her 40th looming large, Debbie Davis, who works in her husband’s car-customing business, decided to pose for pictures she could “look back on and admire in 20 years”. “We rented a hotel room at the Victoria Junction [hotel] and did pictures with a burlesque theme as well as some of me in a nurse’s outfit.” Pictures of the platinum blonde bound with rope in the boot of one of her husband’s classic cars, as well as in a dominatrix theme in a graveyard at night, were taken. “My husband wants me to do more. It’s done wonders for our relationship after 10 years of marriage.” Davis said.

International model Electra, 34, had a “tongue-in-cheek, sexy and playful shoot” done for her boyfriennd’s Christmas present last year. “I wanted an S&M them so we got permission to shoot in the dungeon at the Castle [of Good Hope]. I was hiding behind teh door wearing wigs, garters, handcuffs and ropes in between the tourists popping in,” she said. Electra said one of her main reasons for doing the shoot was her son’s first birthday celebration. “When you’re pregnant and then doing the mommy thing, you become so unattached to your inner tigress. I needed to step into my womanhood again.”

A cosmetic buyer, who asked to be named only as Elizabeth, gave her husband a kinky twist to the traditional first wedding anniversary gift of paper- erotic pictures of his beloved. The 29-year-old said the shoot had been a boost for her sexual confidence. “It’s a great experience for any girl,” she said.

Hawker started photographing the naked female form while completing her graduate thesis on erotic female stereotypes at the Ruth Prowse School of Art. She admits most of her subjects have “commercially acceptable” body types “but most still think they are inadequate”. “I’ve learned how to relax my subjects. Most shoots have crazy moments and giggling at bizarre circumstances: how often do you pour a bottle of honey all over yourself or roll in cake? “Some women want gorgeous images of themselves, which is really self-affirming; others feel they have a “sell-by date” and want to capture themslevs in the now.”