December’s pick for the Body Liberation Book Club will be Fat Girl by Judith Moore! Join us on Thursday, December 26 (yes, the day after Christmas) at 7 pm (Jalisco restaurant, 12336 31st Ave NE, Seattle, WA 98125) for a fat-friendly hangout and book discussion. Newcomers are very welcome! About the Body Liberation Book Club…
This calendar is provided as a public resource for the body positivity, fat acceptance, plus-size fashion, and Health at Every Size (HAES) communities. I’m not affiliated with any events except the ones in bold, and at this time I’m not compensated for any event listings. The calendar is current on hold due to so many…
I was honored to recently be part of a roundtable series, a collaboration between the National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA) and Yoga & Body Image Coalition (YBIC), called Growing & Thriving Together: A Roundtable Series on Diversity, Inclusivity & Accessibility in Yoga and Fitness Spaces. The discussion for which I was a panelist focused on…
Get an edge on your holiday shopping and support fat artists at the first annual at Artists’ Open House & Overstock Sale! We’ll have a range of body-positive and creative goods for you, including: THE BODY LOVE BOX: Overstock boxes from previous months, books, stickers, bookmarks, self-care items, zines, figurines, and art prints Body Liberation…
November’s pick for the Body Liberation Book Club will be Heavy by Kiese Laymon! Join us on Friday, November 29 at 7 pm (Amante Pizza on Roosevelt Way in Seattle) for a fat-friendly hangout and book discussion. Newcomers are very welcome! Content note: Heavy contains potentially difficult material, including descriptions of sexual abuse. Reading this…
I went on a trip! It was lovely! At least, most of it was. People in small bodies go out in public and come home with lovely memories. People in fat bodies go out in public and come home with thorns among the roses. The Young Lovers This is the couple who wanted my spot…
One of the best things about summer is water: swimming, splashing, wading, dancing, drinking, flavoring, floating, fishing, boating, or soaking in it! The larger your clothing size, though, the more challenging it can be to find a swimsuit you find comfortable or beautiful. For folks who wear clothing sizes larger than are generally carried at…
Allies, HAES providers, body image and body positivity activists, and influencers who live in small and medium-sized bodies: Where are you when a superfat person posts a bikini photo and is rewarded with, not the accolades you receive for your vulnerability and bravery, but uniform disgust? Where are you when fat activists are exhausted at…
Over on the Association for Size Diversity and Health (ASDAH) blog, I’m talking about Mary, a fictional fatty, and her experience in the fitness world. Recently I saw a comment from a fitness professional that got me thinking. She said that she wants to help people in bodies of all sizes get to the “happy…
This is a guest post from Dawn Clark, who graciously allowed me to share her experience at the National Association for the Advancement of Fat Acceptance, or NAAFA. – Lindley I have been fat most of my life, and if there were one word to describe my fat life thus far, it would be “uncomfortable.”…
“Oh, phew,” said the client I’d just finished photographing yesterday, as we stood in her office. “That makes so much more sense. I found you by googling for ‘body positive photography’ anyway — this is much more clear.” I’d just told her that I’m changing my website and brand, and she immediately picked up on…
I’m the official photographer for Project HEAL’s Camp Heal 2019! Join us in Angeles National Forest outside Los Angeles this September to help heal your body image. In this video, I’m talking about eating disorder recovery and who has the “right” body for it, why I’m lending my skills to the camp, and my fave…
***I’m giving away a free pair of Dry Apron Panties! See the video and transcript for details. Contest ends at midnight on Friday, May 31, 2019. You must comment over on Youtube to enter (not here on the blog).*** In a world where living in a fat body is barely discussed, taking care of a…
What do boudoir photography, subscription boxes and stock photos have in common? What even is a stock photo? How does body liberation play into all this? In this video, I chat with the wonderful Dr. Melissa Bird about all this and more (with transcript).
Chrissy Brown is an artist who works primarily in 3D, and as a fat, disabled, queer, femme she wants to make sure she and others like her feel welcomed to take up space in the world. Her subject is fat liberation and body positivity, and she’s trying to strip away all ‘performance’ we, as fat…
Thekla Richter’s small business branding photography session was so much fun! The weather cooperated perfectly, which is rare for Seattle in November: a beautiful sunny day with air crisp enough to keep us from getting sweaty. Thekla (pronounced Tech-luh — I was dying to know, too) writes middle-grade fantasy books (ask her about the space…
I do still believe that there’s value in teaching people how to enter the walled city of acceptability, even if just for a day. But it’s the value of teaching self-defense to women who walk dark streets. It’s the value of teaching a left hook to a bullied child.
Headshots. Almost everyone needs them, and they’re not usually much fun to get. Let’s change it with a truly positive experience. Get the photos you need for your career or business — all in a friendly, cheerful and supportive environment that welcomes your body just the way it is. All genders, orientations, ethnicities, body sizes, levels of…
Back in December, it was my absolute pleasure to photograph fat athlete and activist Ragen Chastain in Portland, Oregon. She’s written a lovely blog post about her experience — check it out!
“The truth is, the other person in your bed is just so happy that you want to have SEX with them that they aren’t focused on your imperfections. They are INTO you, and into the fact that you are into them sexually. Live out loud and let go of your insecurities, and that is when…
This plus-size beauty queen and Nevada’s Red Rock Canyon = magic. It was 95 degrees at sunset, but luckily Ms. D is used to the heat and I had plenty of water with me, so we took lots of breaks and it worked out fine. Better than fine, in fact. She’d chosen a sparkling sequin…
There’s probably a photo of eight-year-old Lindley in a dictionary somewhere next to the word “competitive.” Or possibly “overachiever.” Other than athletics, in which I had little interest, if it was a competition I was going to enter it. And win it. And the more competitions, the busier I was, the more intensely I could…
You deserve to have a holiday season that’s happy, not a punishment for being you. For those of us who struggle at the holidays, here are some of the best resources on how to set boundaries, take care of ourselves, and know when to draw the line.
It’s always a delight to talk with one of the Fat Faces, Eron, and this time we did it on the record! (Amanda is also a delight, but was absent that day, alas.) We dig deep into my entrepreneurial journey, why I chose to work with fat folks, and your official permission to take care…
Katie Breen interviews Lindley Ashline, founder of stock photography website Representation Matters (now Body Liberation Stock). Lindley explains why it’s so important that we see representations of diverse bodies in the media, and how she uses her platform to create stock imagery featuring people in all types of bodies – large bodies, brown and black…
[parallax-scroll id=”3048″] Love my photography, but a session isn’t right for you right now? Share that love with your friends with the Body Liberation Photography Refer-a-Friend program. It’s the world’s simplest referral program. There’s nothing to sign up for and no codes to keep track of. Just share any Sweet Amaranth website page or social…
In a nutshell: sexy, easy to use and great in one specific area Y’all, I’m reviewing a sex toy. Whoa. One of the most powerful aspects of boudoir photography is the journey I’ve been privileged to experience in my own relationship with my body. As you know, I’m a firm advocate for body acceptance and…
Ms. A brought her A game (pun intended) to her session, along with The Magic Hat. Seriously, this hat was the best. She loves it and is comfortable with it, which was reflected in her ease and comfort in the photos. AND, it was the perfect prop for some implied nude images. “Implied nudes”…
You don’t have to smile to be sexy. Or be sultry. No, seriously. Your natural expressions are what’s sexy. Some people are serious. Some people are giggly. Some people are both, or neither. And whichever comes naturally to you, without feeling like you’re “performing” sexiness, will be the perfect expression for you. At her…
One of the wonderful things about outdoor portrait sessions in the Pacific Northwest is that you can adapt and use any weather you find. This client (who is also my lovely sister!) was only in town for a short time, so we headed to a local arboretum and used the weather we were given that…
The boudoir party I hosted in coordination with Fierce Love Yoga was such a great experience! As far as I know, no one else has done an explicitly body and fat positive boudoir shoot like this before, so we’re breaking barriers, y’all. <3 Here’s the way I described the event, to refresh your memory:…
Headshot sessions are short, but they deserve a blog feature too. We pack a lot of energy and fun into the 15-30 minutes it takes to get great headshots! I always give clients the choice of several backdrops, plus an outdoor setting if it’s not raining, so that they get some nice variety to…
One of the most wonderful things about a Sweet Amaranth adventure session is that since we have a full day, we get a chance to take photos in really amazing locations around the Pacific Northwest. For Ms. G’s adventure session, we headed out to Lake Cushman, a gorgeous lake in the Olympic Mountains that…
I was delighted to have Hannah Schnabel join me for a portrait session for Representation Matters.me, my body positive and diverse stock photo site. Hannah is the mind behind plus-size clothing line Belle Ampleur. Hannah Schnabel has over a decade of experience designing clothing for stage and film. She’s designed and built everything from corsets, to a…
Ms. C came in before Christmas and did a body positive boudoir session as a surprise for her hubby. And when I say surprise, I mean complete surprise: All he knew was that his Christmas present this year was going to be really special. From the planning to the session to scheduling the reveal, we…
Here’s an ever-evolving list of boudoir and portrait session ideas to spark your inspiration. Some are serious, some are silly. Use them as a launching point for your imagination! See an idea you love that seems more appropriate for portraits (that you wish you could do for boudoir) or for boudoir (that you wish you…
A woman in one of the plus-size groups on Facebook made a really good point the other day: We rarely see women with double chins represented in images. Many, many women have double chins. It’s a completely normal thing. But we hide them in photos. We stretch out our necks, raise our chins, tilt our…
I am so pleased to present images of my first transgender Siren, Ms. S! I’m honored to offer a safe, fun, accepting space where folks whose bodies are outside the mainstream can stretch their wings and showcase their beauty. We started outside to take advantage of some beautiful spring weather: We dubbed this “the Elrond…
Recently, I talked a little bit about the risks of movement in a larger body. In Ms. H’s hula dance portraits, you can see that the reward for her taking that risk is a beautiful, skilled, graceful performance. Through her Instagram, Danielle Bex also demonstrates daily how joyful movement can be.
As people who inhabit larger bodies, when we move those bodies, we take risks. We risk being stared at, made fun of or catcalled. Since often, no one has ever taught us to appreciate those bodies and the way they move, we risk trying to move them in ways that are unwise or not a good…
Ms. L and I met earlier year, and in our two sessions together — four or five months apart — she’s just blossomed in the most amazing way. One of the best things about plus-size boudoir photography is that blossoming. Almost everyone is nervous when they come in, especially women on the larger end of plus…
Body-positive boudoir and portrait sessions are tons of fun. There’s the laughter, the silliness, the looking and feeling like the most gorgeous thing to hit this planet — it’s a pretty amazing experience. But what happens afterward? Yeah, everyone knows about digital photos — they’re great for sharing on Facebook and making physical prints from….
Something I’m a little ashamed to admit is that photography, as a skill and an art form, at times both highlights and reinforces the conventional standards of beauty that trap us within ourselves and keep us striving to look like the impossible beacons of perfection we see all around us in the media every day….
I don’t have a commercial studio space, actually. Most of my photography sessions are held at my home, Alcove House, in Renton, Washington. For many photographers, having a retail studio space is a major goal. For me, though, there are just so many advantages in using my home as my studio that I’ve never even…
Which of these situations sounds better? A. You rush into your boudoir session sweaty and stressed. That workout took longer than you expected, and then you need to return those library books before the fees started piling up. B. You stroll into your boudoir session happy and relaxed, a spring in your step and a…
Today it’s my pleasure to feature a guest post by Tiana Dodson, a coach and friend who writes about “being fat and winning at life by forgoing the old school belief that you have to be thin to live well and be well.” The images in this post are courtesy Sweet Amaranth. When was the last…
When you have some or all of your clothes off, it’s easy to feel a little vulnerable, and you might not expect to be touched by your boudoir photographer. What’s that about? Is it even necessary? Your boudoir photographer will need to touch you a little. It’s inevitable that a hair ends up out of…
So you’ve reserved your plus-size boudoir session. The date is set. It’s happening. In a few weeks, you’re going to be in front of a camera. Now what? The easiest and best way to feel secure and ready for your session is…to prepare for it. No one likes homework, I know! But this is the…
Let’s be honest. There are few things in the world more fun than playing dress-up, and boudoir sessions are ALL ABOUT dressing up. And the best part of dressing up is rummaging through tulle and rhinestones and velvet to find the perfect accessories. Here are seven props and accessories available at the Sweet Amaranth studio…
I get a lot of questions about retouching and skin, so today I thought I’d explain my philosophy on retouching — especially regarding skin — and how I arrived there. Modern portrait and boudoir photography incorporate a startling amount of body alteration. So much of what makes up the story of our bodies gets removed:…
