“Also, too much of my adult life was preoccupied with not being attached to the sexual stereotype of Black women as Jezebels. It took therapy to realize being a fully functioning voluptuary is not shameful. Watching women like Beyoncé, Serena Williams and Rihanna fully take up space in the world convinced me to be proud of my body.
“This boudoir shoot was an opportunity to not just put the oxygen mask on me first but also have the luxury of someone doing my hair, makeup and create respectful images of my sensual nature. There are many photos of me as a daughter, wife, friend, aunt, co-worker and so on. But nothing that documented me putting myself first.
“The experience was exciting, frightening and joyful! I selected Jennifer as my photographer because her photos of women of color were beautiful — these women glowed. You may recall there was a controversy about photos that Annie Leibovitz did of Simone Biles; to me, Simone’s skin looked muted. That made me determined to find a photographer that would show me as luminescent.
“The session was several hours long but felt like a blur. As I changed outfits, I began to relax and follow Jennifer’s instructions because I felt safe and cosseted. I was able to see my photos later that day and was stunned — it was beyond what I expected. I looked beautiful, strong, sensual and joyful.
“At first I only showed a few pictures to some women I love and trust — all of them said I was stunning and were thrilled at me being daring. The new year after my shoot, I picked one of my favorite images and pinned it to the top of my Twitter account with the words, ‘I am worthy. I am valuable. I am enough.’ It’s there whenever I need a reminder.” – Lisa S.