Clara Charmak,

Photographer

What shaped me into the photographer I am today

I grew up in a family that only ever treated nudity as something normal/natural. Not only did my family express comfort around being naked, but so did the family friends I grew up around. Sure, there were people along the way that made me realize that not everyone felt comfortable being naked in front of others, but I thought they were the weird ones. Because of this being comfortable around people being in a state of undress is not uncomfortable for me and I strongly believe that because I am comfortable it allows my clients (even when they themselves aren’t) to be comfortable.

What drew me to Boudoir Photography?

In the winter of my first year in collage I came across the way I could help other women feel damn good in their bodies. At the end of a photography class where we could do a final project of our choosing, I chose to shoot boudoir which was something I had always wanted to try. I asked a few of my girl friends if they would be willing to model and when they said yes I booked the studio for 5 hours. At first it was a little hard but then it began to flow. I took pictures of 6 women that day. All of them stepped in front of me feeling vulnerable and exposed and all of them walked away with their heads held high and a pep in their step. One girl just sat there and laughed as soon as she was in front of my lens and to me this can be anything form an emotional seal breaking to the opposite side of tears. After a few moments though with some help from me she was striking power poses and playing. She walked away with an air of confidence I don’t think either of us expected. At the end of the 5 hours, after picking up and putting things away I felt intoxicated by the immense change, beauty, and empowerment I had just witnessed and captured. The next week editing the photos my teacher stood over my shoulder and I had this moment of "Oh my gosh, what if she doesn't like them or they are appropriate for this project." But she said nothing and after a few minutes moved on. Upon presenting them to the class she spoke up about the experience she’d had standing over my shoulder while I edited. What she said became the turning point of taking my photography from a hobby to a business. She said "You know I was looking at your photos of these women that had not been heavily edited and I was thinking to myself how beautiful they are. And as I continued to look I started to see myself in them and I had this moment of, oh, I'm beautiful."