Clients face any number of obstacles when deciding whether to do a boudoir photoshoot. One of those, it turns out, involves the word “boudoir” itself. I see the search terms people use to find my site: “bordeaux photos,” “boodwa photos,” “budeaux photos,” “bodure photos,” “budwa photos,” and more. Boudoir already occupies a too-small niche in the photography world. Perhaps what we call it deserves some of the blame.
So where does “boudoir” come from?
“Boudoir” refers to a woman’s private bedroom or related private space. It derives from the French verb “bouder” meaning “to pout” (or “to sulk”). Merriam-Webster puts the earliest known use of “boudoir” in 1777, describing the area of a house where a woman would go for privacy when she was upset. The term gained popularity in the English language in the Victorian era and early 20th century, meaning more a woman’s private sitting room. Boudoir photography got its start in that time as well.
How do you say it?
The French pronounce it “boo-DWAH,” but most Americans have adopted it as “boo-DWAHR” (sounding like “car”). You might hear the syllables separated with the D more in the first part, like “bood-WAHR.” For me it feels like the D exists like a bridge between the two parts, present but not strongly enunciated.
So if the term refers to a woman’s space…
Well, that was more than 100 years ago, so things can change. For me at least, boudoir photography is open to people of all genders. Some boudoir photographers like to say they do “dudeoir,” specifically referring to intimate photos for men. I still think that’s too binary, but hey, I’m in the Bay Area, so what do you expect?
How often do you shoot in people’s homes?
To me, this is the most curious aspect of doing boudoir: I almost never shoot in clients’ homes! If we’re not shooting in the studio, most likely we’re shooting in a hotel suite. Clients have any number of reasons not to have their session in their home. But when clients do want to do their session in their home, it’s a great opportunity to add extra personal flavor to their images. Plus I don’t have a bathtub/shower or full kitchen at the studio, so doing a session in a home with great options like that is a big plus.
Not only that, but while bedroom scenes constitute a good percentage of boudoir photos, boudoir photographers create and shoot in countless different indoor and outdoor settings. Despite the origins of boudoir photography that really did take place in the private sections of clients’ fancy homes, now boudoir is however someone defines it for themself.
So there you have it — you can call these boodwa photos, budwa, bodure, budeaux, or whatever. Just know this: they’re only called Bordeaux photos when they’re taken in the Bordeaux wine region of France. Everything else is just sparkling sexy pics.
