We recently connected with Tiana Lee and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Tiana, thanks for joining us today. Let’s start with a story that highlights an important way in which your brand diverges from the industry standard.

I don’t care what’s popular. I care about celebrating the soul and how I can help it breathe fresh air, be safe, and aid the mind in accepting authenticity,ridding itself of societal stereotypes and self-limiting beliefs.

In past years, the media set the stage for generations of disconnected, sexually frustrated, hopeless humans with poor self-worth, which resulted in beautiful humans waging war with each other over beauty and worth. What society forgets is beauty and worth are inherent. I see my clients through this lens. n the photography industry, particularly in boudoir, many dangerously followed after Hugh Hefner and slippery behaviors became commonplace. There are communities where artists collaborate and it can be very beautiful to see what hair and makeup artists, models, photo/videographers, and other artists can bring to life. However, the majority of these groups are run by individuals seeking fantasy and unfortunately, most of them are men who do not seek to understand the women they photograph. What has not understanding women done to women? Look at history- bad relationships with food, dying (literally) to be pretty, self-harm, body dysmorphia….. Photographers are not solely at fault for this but we are a huge piece of what can change it, so we should hold ourselves accountable. Within these groups and within the industry in general. you typically see the clothes fall off before you see the soul of a woman, or even any emotion in the photograph. There is a difference between sex and art. There is a difference between more sultry, desire-drenched images that evoke true emotion and transport you to a memory, highlighting the bond of lovers, showcasing what a partner sees when they look at their partner (which can be very empowering ), etc. and borderline porn or a male’s fantasy. “Stand here and look pretty” is very much still the standard and only if you’re a certain size and look, which is still very white, very tall and thin, and then Photoshopped to the same fantasy standard- bigger and bigger breasts and butts and tinier and tinier waists…but don’t you go above an actual size two. The poses are very “Here, I have a pretty woman on this bed. Come look at her.” instead of “I am woman. I am an emotional masterpiece that swept my lover from their feet with the charm of this wink and giggle…that drew them in with this collarbone I’m tracing…that is learning to love myself fiercely and, with all the rage of the ocean’s storms and yet the grace of its soft, lapping, loves them.” When you look at an image, there should be a theme and in the scenario I just described, you would be hearing people say things like, “Wow, I can see her strength…..she reminds me of the ocean….she’s wild and yet graceful…..she is SO passionate here…” You would never hear someone just say, “Yea, she’s hot.” or “It looks like she’s posing in a hotel (the typical scene for not-so-great things happening to women….).”
Unfortunately, AI is a huge setback as it’s already proven to have issues with oversexualizging women and girls, enlarging womens’ breasts, shrinking their waistlines, and smoothing out skin until it’s plastic-like. There doesn’t seem to be an easy way to ensure ethical standards. Now we are seeing major influencers that aren’t actual people, but AI generated images of someone’s fantasy, or what’s most likely to be a fantasy among society and that standard is still entangled with what I described above. Their followings are massive and people think this is the standard of beauty. It’s very easy to fall into in the photography industry because AI is available for editing. In my own studio, I have chosen to weigh every new piece of technology against three standards:
1. Is it authentic to your mission of empowerment?
2. Does it represent your clientele in an authentic way?
3. Is it authentic to your style?
4. If your client saw you using it, would they love themselves more, or aim to degrade/shrink/disassociate from their true identities to be like the version of them in the picture?
AI does not currently answer any of those questions well, so I won’t use it unless it’s to generate a tree or something of that nature.

Looping back, when a couple steps into my studio, they have to have a consultation before images ever occur, and same for any single person. We talk about what emotions they want to feel and what they want to represent. I am not taking images that are just from my perspective, but also from their partner’s lens which stems from getting to know them so well. I want their bond showcased, and their real smiles, and all of the little things that make this real.

Men also have their own struggles with not being forgiven for showing emotion, body image struggles, etc. that female photographers need to be just as aware of. One of my clients is an actor, so it’s very easy for him to show emotion but it doesn’t mean it’s any easier for him to break stigmas surrounding sharing emotion outside of the theater. Male emotions shouldn’t only be for entertainment. Giving him the space to breathe not into a character, but into himself was therapeutic. There was this release of darkness, rage, and sadness, all things that grow harder to deal with while suppressing emotion.
If you take the initial situation I described, it can really be applied to anyone. Humans need to connect with themselves spiritually, emotionally, physically, and mentally for me to have done my job well. That’s why I spend so much time connecting with my clients. A woman should never be afraid of wearing her hijab into my studio. A mother who has finally gotten pregnant from IVF should never be ashamed of her means of getting pregnant and in fact, it should be showcased. A gay couple should never feel sticks and stones. Someone who believes in Jesus should never feel like a goody two shoes or hang their head. We all face battles and we all deserve to live authentically. This is part of the reason I will put a client’s words or words based on their circumstance, on their images. Sometimes that feels more cinematic, or deepens the initial story in the image, and when people see themselves winning in their own story, or are actually proud of where they come from (like seeing their culture represented or their religion and they see themselves joyful), it makes people want to be themselves and want to win for themselves. It takes away this character made by society and we remember we are the main character in our own life.

It’s one of the reasons my next project is centered around young delinquents – if they could SEE their identity without handcuffs, without the expectations that set them up for failure…how would it change them? My dad is a multi-time felon. I wish he had this opportunity when he was younger.

To wrap up, our souls have to breathe and breathe in a space that allows for self-discovery. When we disconnect form our true selves and think we have to fit these molds and gaslight ourselves into believing what society gaslights us with, we lose touch which creates spiritual, mental, emotional, and then can intensify into physical and health battles. My photography exists to bring us back to authenticity – to our center, to defeat the war on beauty, to hold mirrors of accountability up to society, and challenge my community to love ourselves and each other. When I take photos, I try to have deeper conversations with my women’s community, The Unbound Woman of Worth and my men’s community, Are You Man Enough? (it’s ironic on purpose), after they are taken to create awareness and conversation around the theme of the images. If we can remove shame and create unity, the world is more compassionate and we have a chance to improve life together. I don’t care what’s popular. I care about the soul.

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.

I am a photographer and videographer because it’s the best medium for me to help humans love themselves and others more. When I was young, I was one of three siblings in a single-parent household. My mom was constantly worried about if anyone could love her and it stemmed from society’s stereotypes of single mothers and the impossible body standards the media spewed. I beat myself up a lot about my parents’ divorce and thought I didn’t matter enough because my dad was in jail or prison most of my birthdays. The older I got, the more I saw women hating these beautiful pieces of themselves because of very ignorant, and often willingly uneducated, people or media. I remember one of the most gorgeous women I have ever met- she is African American and she told me her community would tell her to only wear brown. It was easier to “blend in” because white women can stand out, but to stand out as a black woman is to be out of place. To see a community feel pushed into a place where they feel the need to not even enjoy the basic option of complimenting their skin tone made me sick. Her shades of electric blue, wild yellows, and jewel toned greens inspired me and drew me to her. They were just as lively and wild as she is, and that is exactly what photography does…it showcases its human subject in fashion, in emotion, in the mental space… it is so much more than just taking a picture. It is delicately crafting a representation of a soul. As I entered high school, I had this idea of putting on a fashion show where woman of any size, ability, shape, color, etc. could walk and they would be given a sash at the end that had a piece of their identity written on it (warrior, worthy, etc.) because we aren’t just beautiful, we are identities with purpose. I am a few steps closer to that dream with my art benefit gala, where life size images of diverse women come together to prove that all women are masterpieces and that beauty and worth are inherent. It’s wild to think of how shocked my teenage self would be if she knew what was coming and if she saw what has already happened with my clients. I am humbled to do this for a living and to leave a legacy of shifting perspectives and inspiring self-worth, self-love, and unity among all. My dreams didn’t stop there though. Through college I really started recognizing the gaps in education, access to necessities, etc. within different groups and how those groups were treated. I began to see how beauty standards played such a huge role even there. I decided I could at least try and show people the beauty I saw. Maybe that could make someone happy. Well, I ended up doing better than I’d ever thought and then took advantage of opportunities to better my business skills, to coach others where I was qualified to educate, and to inspire communities. I now have been published several times, tour as a photographer, and also speak motivationally and on business topics. I will never, ever stop celebrating my clients’ identities with them in studio. It’s my heartbeat to wipe away the clutter and showcase who they are, or celebrate their masterpiece if they’ve already wiped off the clutter, or were blessed to not have much.

Do you have multiple revenue streams – if so, can you talk to us about those streams and how your developed them?

Yes, absolutely!

I have an apparel line and a magazine line that are both in their infancy but are slowly growing. I developed both of these to create something a little more passive, meaning hands-off compared to photography and how in-depth I go with my clients, and to start a revenue stream to fund things in the community. I hope to eventually utilize some of these funds to create scholarships and investments for kids and adults who invent services or objects that truly make a dent in the community and foster a healthier tomorrow. As a kid who was really poor, it was really hard to even know what resources were out there for me, so I’d like to make sure we are solving that problem too and getting the opportunity for the funding into as many hands as possible, particularly disadvantaged hands.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

This is how your brain works when you first become a photographer: PHOTOGRAPHY IS A HOBBY SO I HAVE TO TAKE WHATEVER PEOPLE GIVE ME. OMG! HAVE FIFTEEN SESSIONS TO EDIT IN SEVEN DAYS WHICH MEANS I WON’T BE ABLE TO GO TO THE EVENTS WITH MY KIDS AND THESE PEOPLE KEEP ASKING WHERE THEIR PHOTOS ARE (even though I gave them an estimate). I CAN’T CHARGE MORE OR MY CLIENTS WILL LEAVE ME AND I WON’T HAVE ANY NEW CLIENTS. THE DOCTOR SAYS I NEED TO STOP STAYING UP UNTIL 4AM EDITING PHOTOS BUT I CAN’T BECAUSE I HAVE TO TAKE ON SO MANY CLIENTS TO MAKE MONEY. I’M EXHAUSTED. I HAVE COVID NOW AND MY CLIENTS ARE DEMANDING THEIR IMAGES. I CAN’T REST.

Now, I wasn’t a new photographer when COVID hit, but I am just giving an example of how detrimental the groupthinks can be surrounding photography and even in the industry. What I just described is a poorly priced photographer who probably gives all the images that turn out (and even maybe those that don’t), who spends ungodly hours editing one session (in part because of the amount of images) which also pisses off other clients waiting and exhausts the photographer, doesn’t have a business model or plan, and whose worth is determined by what the client thinks or says. This means to make a living they’d probably have to take on a session a day or more and then where is time for editing? For marketing? Deserved alone time? People think photography is just hitting a button. it isn’t. There are a vast majority of photographers, and yes, some are more skilled in different areas. That’s the beauty of CHOICE for a consumer. That’s the beauty of competition. What photographers have succumbed to is a specific market’s groupthink: photographers are cheap and should give into my every single demand for my bottom dollar. That’s because most photographers don’t know how to position themselves in any market. What is SO cool about business is you get to choose which market you want to be in! If you want clients who have extra cash who enjoy artistic entertainment or who enjoy increasing self-love and pampering, or who want the absolute best senior photographer, you have to know WHERE those people are, what they make, who they associate with, if they are married or not, what quality they expect, (and so much more) and as a bonus, what features they love best so you can market them as client favorite add-ons. You need to know what problem you solve for them. I could go on for days about ideal clientele and marketing. For now, I will say I had to unlearn the invent-the-wheel-yourself mindset, the photographers-are-starving-artists mindset, and the photography-is-my-side-hustle mindset. I paid attention to corporate marketing that was already marketing to my ideal clientele – what already makes them buy those services and is that through webinar, online ads, networking, etc? There were a few people in the industry who started instructing on marketing for photographers specifically which did help in different areas.

What photographers have to learn first, and really, any artist, is their worth- no one sets that price tag but you. Then it’s a matter of being smart. Your business model matters SO incredibly much. If you suck at marketing, learn how to outsource where you can. SAVE UP to OUTSOURCE and that money will come back if you’ve invested in the right company or person. Marketing is everything in this world. Everything is at your fingertips with the internet. If you don’t have a marketing plan with good calls to action, the photographer that’s way less skilled than you is going to outbook you by a landslide. It isn’t about what’s “fair” in skill but rather what’s “fair” is how much time you’ve invested into visibility within your ideal audience.

Contact Info:

• Website: go.tianalee.com
• Instagram: @tianalee_photo
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tianaleeboudoir/
• Linkedin: tianaleespeaks
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@theunboundwomanofworth
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/tiana-lee-boudoir-xenia
• Other: Our podcast will be featured on my The Unbound Woman of Worth Youtube page!

Image Credits
Tiffany Jones, Zachary Starr, Kim Gallegos, Zakiyyah Jones, Kourtney Perry, The Bovinetts, Tara Starr, Megan Kellogg