Walk into an office building on First Avenue and you'd never guess that behind one of the plain black doors is a sexy photo studio featuring a large bed and an ever-rotating closet of lingerie, floggers and other kink accessories along the wall.
Here, Becca Daniels, the artist behind Paper Tiger Photography, works with people interested in taking intimate boudoir photos.
She's taken care to create a welcoming space. A frilly, Hollywood-style pink sheer robe drapes over a room divider that people can change behind. There's a vanity for hair and makeup, a full-length mirror against another wall, and speakers help musically set the mood.
While boudoir — literally defined as a woman's bedroom — may conjure risqué images of women from the 1920s, or the pin-up propaganda that Uncle Sam used during World War II, the modern art form is open to everyone.
Daniels' space is queer-friendly, and she's passionate about working with everyone: men, women, trans or nonbinary; single, dating or married; posing with a partner, or on their own.
"Boudoir is one of the most vulnerable things you can ask somebody to do," Daniels says. "It's just such an honor. It's stripping people down, quite literally — ha! — stripping people down, and then there's nothing left to be worried about. It's very intentional."
The 39-year-old photographer wants to dash the idea of certain tastes being "taboo."
Clients may pose nude, or in lacy garments, or perhaps they want to experiment with another form of sexual expression, such as shibari — Japanese rope bondage, which is performed with the guidance of Daniels' friend, Jake, who knows the art form and how to avoid injury.
"My landlords loved that, when I was like 'We're going to hang people from the ceiling and tie them up,'" Daniels says with a laugh.
Others, perhaps thinking of the photo shoot as a gift for a loved one, might literally wrap themselves in cellophane and ribbons like a present. Or they might go avant-garde and pose nude with a lampshade on their head. Or, you know, they may just want to wear jeans and a tank top.
Whatever the client's style, one of Daniels' passions is empowering people of all body types and ages to feel beautiful.
"I try to ask you things you're really excited about. ... Like for me, I love my eyes," Daniels says. "I don't give a shit what your partner wants. I care so much about your partner, but for a solo boudoir we really try to break away from those things like 'Is he a boobs or an ass guy?'"
Daniels got into boudoir about five years ago, after starting as a wedding photographer and offering "spicy" couples sessions.
"Over the years as I've started narrowing down what I'm passionate about and what lights my heart on fire, it really is working with couples," Daniels says. "Boudoir isn't just, I think, what you stereotypically hear."
She's loud and unapologetic about inclusion, recognizing that many people don't regularly see glamorous photos of someone like them, and that everyone has insecurities.
"Everybody has body shit. Literally everybody — doesn't matter their shape, their size, their age," Daniels says. "There's space for everybody, and I still think that largely a lot of what you see in boudoir photography is straight, White people."
She sees about a 60/40 split of couples and solo sessions. Only about 1 percent of those solo sessions are with men.
"I don't think that many men get that experience or feel like they're allowed to have that experience," Daniels says. "I want to be able to hold space for everyone."
Her website (PaperTigerPhotography.com) sets the tone for the two- to three-hour sessions, with her contact form saying, "Let's f— shit up together," and her "About Me" promising "you'll never be able to out-awkward me."
Laughter is a key tool. Daniels recalls the crotch snap on her outfit popping open when she did a boudoir shoot before her own wedding, giving her photographer a view she hadn't planned on.
"I prayed for the aliens to come at that moment and, like, let my body dissolve," Daniels says, laughing loudly. "But we got through it. And for sure we've had those moments in this studio, and we laugh through it."
The work has led her to examine her own assumptions and stereotypes, and to listen to how people want to celebrate their love.
"It's been really educational for me, too. I am learning new things all the time. ... I am not, like, the master of kink," Daniels says. "My couples and my clients — although I hate that word — have educated me and held space for me. Like, 'Oh girl, you don't know what a harness is? We got you.'"
1325 W. First Ave.
papertigerphotography.com
Consent and open communication are key to all sessions, she says.
"If somebody isn't comfortable, we just kind of pause," Daniels says. "There's so many different things that can make people feel sexy."
From roller skates and wigs to masks and whips, the work is meant to be fun and, in a way, allow people to embrace an alter ego if they'd like to, she says.
"All of my work is so intentional, and I think this is a space where I can be the master of that experience for somebody, and that is such a joy, truly, to give to somebody," Daniels says. ♦
