As photographers, we spend a lot of time interacting with the human body: posing it, photographing it, maybe even editing it. But sometimes, our feelings towards our own bodies can spill over into how we photograph others. As Teri explains in today’s episode, the trick to cultivating our own self love and empowering it in our clients isn’t to hyperfocus on the body but instead to capture our clients as whole, complex humans.

In this episode, I’m chatting about self love and liberation with inspirational speaker, award winning empowerment photographer, and body image activist Teri Hofford. She’s sharing how you can practice self love in your photography business and empower your clients to love their own bodies. We’re talking about setting boundaries as a form of self love, and Teri is explaining why we should strive to photograph our subjects as whole humans, not just their bodies.

What’s in this episode:

• Teri’s passion for helping others improve their confidence and body image [2:28]
• How a lack of boundaries can hurt your self esteem and sense of self love [3:32]
• Understanding the root of your default behaviors and learning to say “no”[6:05]
• How to create a plan before you have to turn potential clients away [8:54]
• How a scarcity mindset about the future can lead to overworking yourself in the present [9:36]
• Making big, scary changes in your business because you know they’re right for you [11:11]
• Teri’s book about understanding body image and digging deeper into who you truly are [14:29]
• How to create self portraits as an act of self love [17:12]
• Why Teri took a step back from photographing clients and pivoted towards education [18:26]
• Why we crave time for passion projects and then get uncomfortable when we get that time [25:05]
• How to create systems for the things that are difficult but good for you [28:04]
• How to address body image with clients and go into your sessions with intention [33:41]
• Why “body positivity” is sometimes too focused on improving the body [39:45]

If you want to cultivate your own sense of self love and empower your clients to do the same, tune into this episode.

For full show notes, resources, links and to download the transcript, visit our website: https://themilkyway.ca/beyond-the-body-cultivating-self-love-in-ourselves-our-clients-with-body-image-activist-teri-hofford/

Reserve your spot for the 2022 Online Newborn Photography Retreat: https://themilkyway.ca/2022-newborn-retreat/