How Demi Girl Boudoir started a luxury Photography Studio in Chicago
For as much as I hate the cold, it was on this day 7 years ago that I decided to create my own boudoir brand and studio, Demi Girl Photography. It was negative 34 degrees on this day with wind chill and I was out doing a photoshoot by the lake. It didn’t feel like the smartest thing at the time but I had so much fun doing the shoot. This was the second time I had shot with this particular Chicago based Photographer and I remember after the shoot, I went to Starbucks on Diversey and Sheffield in the Lincoln Park neighborhood to warm up. When I was at that Starbucks, I was reminded of my love for photography and decided I was going to officially create a business facebook page @demigirlphotography to start my own luxury boudoir studio.
Mind you, at the time I sat with my latte starting the creation of a company I had dreamed about since I was a young girl, I did not own a digital camera, computer or know a thing about photoshop. Although I grew up working in my aunts photography business and darkroom, I’d actually never used photoshop or a digital camera at the time of Demi Girl Boudoir’s inception. My experience in photographic work started in what I would call the dinosaur days of photography. Kind of like the time we used to use walkmans and landlines. Although I went to college to be an x-ray tech and I didn’t plan on opening my own studio as an adult, I knew my passion was pointing me back to my roots and Instead of photographing the body in a medical setting, I knew I had another calling and photography was it for me.
What I did know is that I was willing to take a chance on doing something that I loved and believed in and hoped people would love what I was doing in the world with boudoir photography eventually. I know it sounds crazy to create a business page before I owned a modern digital camera but I knew I was set on creating a beautiful and safe space for women to celebrate themselves and be photographed in their lingerie.
My career started at a young age. I grew up photographing everything under the sun in my aunt’s local photography business and I helped run the darkroom. We also traveled all over Illinois photographing professional show horses. She taught me the ins and outs of photography; light, color, posing, and operating a camera. At that time, 30 years ago, I also learned how to run her color darkroom to fulfill our print orders. While I was fascinated learning the ins and outs of cameras and the darkroom, I really loved spending time with my Aunt, traveling to the shows on weekends, staying in hotels, and riding our own horses in our downtime. She was one of my best friends growing up and I love that I had an opportunity to start my own little internship at such a young age. It was a blast and I loved the adventure!
In High school, I would set up backdrops using whatever blanket or material we had laying around and lamps for light. I had a film canon eos and these images posted in the blog are some of my first creations! Mind you these are screen grabs of photographic prints we dug up and are not the best quality but it’s fun to see these gems and reminisce about the start of my journey almost 30 years ago.
Seven years ago, I took a chance on believing that one day I would create beautiful art and help other women tell a story, close the book on a chapter in their lives or help them open a new chapter and celebrate that next step they were about to take. I just wanted to celebrate, inspire and help women embrace taking a chance. That’s what boudoir is all about; that’s what life is all about. It requires a woman to take a chance and to believe in herself. The transformations are amazing and it’s not just the physical, it’s the mental too.
Although yes the photos are gorgeous, the mental breakthrough after this experience is so impactful. Women see themselves as worthy, bold, powerful, sexy, fearless. So many times life can dim the light or diffuse the Spark and zest we once had. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen the zest for life get resurged back into my clients soul. It’s a beautiful thing and I almost love that more than the pretty pictures themselves.
There’s always something to celebrate. In my world, the glass is always half full and I want everyday to feel like a party. I’m also a sagittarius and this mantra is just a part of me. My clients will often thank me for making everything so easy and I always say “what’s the point of doing something if it’s not fun!”
I truly see the beauty in every client I work with and I count my blessings everyday that god has afforded me the opportunity to build Demi Girl’s Boudoir studio and help so many women see that they can do something they never thought possible. This is what my clients have done for me and I believe I do for them in return. We inspire one another. If my client comes in with inspiration and I’ve never shot it, I say “lets give it a shot!” I always tell my clients, think of this studio as OUR space. It’s OUR playground for the day and it’s going to be amazing! I want clients to feel welcome and cozy. A client might say omg Adrienne, I have you to thank for making me look this good. I stop them because this is a collaboration. I’m a facilitator and we made this art together! My clients willingness and openness have everything to do with the art I create.
I have a wonderful makeup, editing and printing team that combined create this dreamy luxury experience and finished art. You see life is one big collaboration. We all need one another to make the world a better and more beautiful place. Thank you to all the ladies who have supported and cheered for Demi Girl Boudoir Photography in the last seven years. You’re truly helping women in the world see themselves as beautiful and I applaud you!
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This is an image of us girls goofing around at 16 after one of our shoots with the camera set on a timer!