Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Audrey Rouzer. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Audrey, appreciate you joining us today. Before we get into specifics, let’s talk about success more generally. What do you think it takes to be successful?

I think it take courage, resilience, and relentless drive to be successful as well as constant evaluation on what success means to someone over time. Not only is it different for everyone, it’s different for each person as time passes.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

Hi! I’m Audrey, the founder of Audrey Rouzer Portraits and full-time boudoir photographer! I’m 27 years old and have been a photographer for 12 years. I have a BFA from Savannah College of Art and Design and won awards my senior year for being one of the first students to create portraits using “non-traditional” models in a fashion setting.

So many people have asked me “Why boudoir? How did you get into this? Why is this a thing?” and the simple answer is: I grew up never seeing women in the media who looked like me. No ads, no magazine covers, no fashion runways. It made me feel like something was wrong with my body and that everyone else felt that way too.

Fast forward 20 years and as a society, we’ve made some progress! Now women of all shapes and sizes are finding their power through boudoir portraits and that’s where I come in.

Our business started in a tiny 300 sqft space and now we’ve upgraded to almost triple that! Our boutique studio is in the Historic Nicodemus Building, and we’re SO excited to breathe some life back into this beauty!

We have hair and makeup artists, a 250+ size-inclusive Client Closet, (where the pieces go home with you after your session) , multiple gorgeous sets, Same-Day Viewing & Ordering Appointments, and luxury products that are constructed to last the rest of your life.

We’re a luxury boudoir studio that is dedicated to empowering all who identify as women. We celebrate those in the LGBTQ+ and BIPOC communities! All of the images shared are of everyday women-not models (all shared with permission of course.) Women often lose sight of themselves taking care of others (with our efforts often being taken for granted and overlooked) and some have never felt at home in their bodies. The female body is capable of so much. It is strong enough to create life and then go back to work after only six weeks postpartum. It’s soft enough to be marked like a canvas, but tells a lifetime of powerful stories. We’ve spent too long feeling disconnected to it.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

My junior year of college, I decided to take a risk for one of my final assignments and cast “plus size” models for my fashion shoot. These two women were my friends, sizes 16/18, and I idolized them because they were what I thought I should look like.

We had a huge storm and it was the one time that I had everything prepared in time to shoot outdoors before it hit-making me the only student in the class who didn’t have images shot in the studio for finals.

During critique, my professor said “Well you’re lucky it’s my last quarter and you aren’t being graded, because you would have failed. After all of the progress you made, I’m really disappointed. You know better. To fit in the fashion world you have to shoot pretty models, and you casted plus size girls? I don’t care that the fat model Ashley whatever (Graham) was on the cover of Sports Illustrated. Big girls aren’t sexy and sex is what sells in this world.”

I was sitting there slack-jawed because I knew the work was good. No one said anything except for the only other “plus size” girl in class at the time-who loved them and recently reached out to me last week to congratulate me on opening my studio, going over this story. Not to mention, her and I had basically been insulted for our size by someone who was supposed to treat us professionally.

I asked him if there were any constructive notes he had on the technical aspects and he said “No, that all looks great you know you’re good, you just took a risk and it failed.”

A whole summer of me feeling defeated passed, and when school started again in the fall, I showed two other professors that body of work and was prepared to be criticized. To my surprise, both professors sang my praises and one specifically said, “I’ve been waiting for years for you to finally shoot what matters to you instead of playing it safe for the grade. This work is what’s going to change your life.” And it did.

That same professor had the school sponsor my next body of work (featuring over a dozen “non-traditional” models in the same shots together) for prestigious Photography Competitions. I came in third place for International Photography Awards that year.

Since then, I realized that I don’t care about treating models like walking hangers and working to sell clothes and products to people with the mentality that they need them to be beautiful.

Now, I work for myself and have created a beautiful studio where I help every day women change the way they see themselves-and that’s more powerful than any ad or fashion editorial. I get to foster emotional growth daily and bond with women I wouldn’t have ever met if I’d stayed on course to move to New York and pursue that dream.

Where do you think you get most of your clients from?

I think the best source of new clients for any business is word of mouth. However, this industry is a little different because the results go beyond words. When clients share their images with family and friends, they can SEE the change in that person in the images, and in front of them.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.audreyrouzerportraits.com
• Instagram: @audreyrouzerportraits
• Facebook: @audreyrouzerportraits
• Other: TikTok: @audreyrouzerportraits

Image Credits
Makeup Artist: Paige Wells