When Women Rise Together | Dressed by Danielle : Tel Aviv Boudoir

I first came across Danielle Williams, founder of Dressed by Danielle, while I was scrolling through Instagram one day. A woman, in Israel, running her own business, empowering women, and promoting body positivity?!

It gave me so much joy to see her posts about embracing her own body and how she was helping other women do the same through her gorgeous pre-loved clothing. I immediately reached out and made an appointment for my 10-year-old daughter and I to have a personal shopping session with her. Hitting her pre-teen years, my daughter has surpassed my own height and shoe size, and I wanted to give her an empowering experience where she could find clothing that she loved. The fact that Danielle offered a body-positive environment made all the difference, and over a year later, my daughter still talks about how incredible that day was.

As Danielle and I got chatting, we realized how aligned our values were. We realized that although I am a boudoir photographer and she is a personal stylist, what we do for women is actually very similar. We are both blessed to be able to witness women when they are their most vulnerable and authentic selves and help them actualize the power that is already inside of them. Her with clothing. Me with photography.

And part of that vulnerability is women coming face to face with their bodies exactly the way they are.

We spoke about how we are on our personal body love journeys alongside our clients and that our businesses really helped us grow into the women we are today. That our clients constantly inspire us, and that self-love is an ever-evolving journey. You don’t just wake up one day and love everything about yourself, it’s something that you have to compassionately work on.

And so the idea for a creative collaboration was born in hopes of creating another safe space for personal and collective healing.

Danielle posted after the session, “As we were shooting, I asked Rebecca to get some close-ups of my tummy rolls and stretch marks. If you had told 2020 Danielle that 2021 Danielle did such a thing, she would be shocked. I’ve spent many years of my life hating my body and even editing my photos to hide all the things I considered to be imperfections. But I’ve come to realize this year that you can’t hate yourself into a version of yourself that you love.”

This image inspired us to collaborate further with artist and calligrapher, Malka Klein, who brought these words to life…

Danielle wrote this beautiful letter to her body to go along with the image above,

”Dear Body,

I love you. ⁣

I love your stretch marks because they remind me of the time when we shed a massive amount of physical and emotional weight. ⁣

I love your cellulite because it reminds me how voluptuous and sexy we are.

I love your hairy skin because it reminds me how we’ve begun to embrace all that we are, as we are.

I love your flabby stomach because it reminds me that someday we will literally create humans inside of us, and that’s freaking magical.

I love everything about you, because you are me. You are the one and only vessel through which I will get to exist and experience life, and for that, I will always be grateful to you.
⁣
I am sorry for all the negative things I have said about you.⁣
⁣
I love you. ⁣”

Being part of this collaboration and witnessing Danielle in her power, just like we do for our own clients, was an incredible honor.

Special thanks to Rhonda Lev for the beautiful hair and makeup, and my husband and business partner, Yehoshua, for making sure all the working parts of this project came together as they did.

In collaboration with Dressed by Danielle

Hair and Makeup by Beauty by Rhonda

Calligraphy by Malka Klein

Kodak Film // Processed and scanned by Panda Labs

All Women are Beautiful | Tel Aviv Boudoir : Sheerle

When I came across Sheerle's Instagram page, I could literally feel her sensual, goddess-y, Divine feminine energy coming from the screen. It wasn’t only her breathtaking beauty that struck me, it was the way that she honored her body and her being. It was the unapologetic way that she embraced her womanhood with love and confidence. I sensed it was coming from a deep place, a place where she’d been through shit and came out stronger on the other side.

In the past I’ve told people, “I don’t photograph models, I photograph real women.” Well, funny enough, models ARE real women.

Some may fit more into the imposed beauty standard, but we still don’t see the full picture when we open up a magazine. We generally don’t see stretchmarks and body hair. We don’t see women with bare faces. We don’t see the layers of body image issues, eating disorders, trauma, or other struggles that this woman may have gone through.

So while Sheerle has modeled professionally over the years, this shoot wasn’t about working or selling anything or fitting any of kind of mold. It was about creating a space for her to embrace her femininity on an even deeper level.

It was about her saying, “I don’t want any makeup,” and me supporting that.

It was about her saying, “fuck it, I don’t want to shave my armpits today.”

It was about her connecting, moving, feeling, and appreciating how far she’s come on her journey…

Sheerle is incredibly insightful and has so much wisdom to offer the world.

I was honored to able to sit down and ask her a few questions about this special experience we shared together.

Sheerle said, “Photography in the past has actually been traumatic for me. I’ve had photographers who didn’t respect me or the art we created together so I’ve learned to really be specific about who I work with.

I use photography as a way to document my journey but as well as share it with others. It’s a glimpse into my essence.”

How was this session different than those traumatic experiences you’ve gone through?

”Firstly, I loveeeeeeed that you were or are religious and a woman.

It was a dream being able to find commonality and passion for liberation of women and their bodies.

Before the session, I felt excited. During I felt soooo comfortable and seen and beautiful. And after I felt really free and beyond happy with the outcome.

I feel I gained a deeper sense of sisterhood.

I really loved that you, Rhonda, and I were a team of badass women and our intention behind the creation was just love for our bodies and to create art out of that love.

When I saw the pictures the first time, I was honestly shocked at how incredible they turned out. Being captured by a woman is so different than men. I felt you captured a more wholesome version of me whereas with many men they capture the version of me that they see which tends to only be sexy.”

What message do you hope these images convey to women?

“I hope my images will convey self-love.

Despite what your body looks like, it’s still your home. If you can start loving your home now you’re more likely to take the steps that feel aligned with you to truly honor it. But it first starts with being able to say you love your body.”

That is so beautiful. Can you tell me a little bit more about your relationship with your body hair? I really loved that you chose to embrace it for this session.

“So I believe all of us have body hair shaming deeply engrained in us, and I am a truth searcher.

I always ask myself, do I truly believe this or this societal programming? With the body hair, I came to understand it’s both. I love having no armpit hair, but I also love not shaving.

I like spending my precious time doing other things honestly. Just like men are accepted with hairless chests or hairy chests women should Have the same freedoms. It comes down to you making up your mind that despite what anyone else thinks you’re going to be okay with yourself.”

How did you feel about posting these images or posting nude images in general?

“I’ve done a lot of work around judgement and nudity. I overcame it a long time ago, and these days the people who don’t like it have already unfollowed me and created space for new followers who truly love me for me to enter. My followers are amazing and respectful and for the few who aren’t I try to communicate kindly, but if I see they don’t respect me, I just block them and move on with my life.”

After this experience, I recommend your services to every woman I meet.

Mainly because you have a gift in bringing out the beauty in every woman.

I truly believe all women are beautiful, but when they don’t see it in themselves, they don’t know how to express it to the world.

You have this gift of bringing it out.”

Hair by Beauty by Rhonda

Follow Sheerle @sheerle.dove

Kodak Film // Processed and scanned by Panda Labs

A New Boudoir Experience | Tel Aviv Boudoir : Batsheva

When Batsheva originally contacted me last Spring, she told me that this would not be her first boudoir experience. This is rare, as most people are venturing into the boudoir world for the first time! It was really exciting, though, because I was able to help her explore different sides of herself. We took it as an opportunity to get creative about our shared vision, which made everything that much more fun!

In Batsheva’s words, “I did two boudoir sessions previously, one was a pinup boudoir session in 2015 and another one in February 2020. I did them because I love taking pictures and creating themed photoshoots. In May, I came across Rebecca Sigala’s work on a thread in a women only Facebook group. I knew I needed to book. I loved Rebecca’s work. The artistic style of the black and whites (later I learned Rebecca works with film, which I totally adored). I am complex, on the one hand I love taking pictures, making Tik Tok videos, I am into acting. However, I still have my insecurities regarding my body. Even though I learned to embrace my imperfections, they sometimes made me feel uncomfortable. Yet that didn’t stop me from setting up two sessions with Rebecca. In June and in November 2020.”

These beautiful images were the result of our first session together…

“I honestly couldn’t believe it was me! I have been photographed many times, and I have never been so satisfied with the final images.”

“I enjoyed every second of my boudoir session with Rebecca. Even if I was shy or embarrassed at times, thinking how I would look… It was empowering, uplifting and amazing.”

“I didn’t expect that I would gain more self-love from this, but I did. I am oftentimes very critical towards myself, asking myself whether I am good enough (especially after experiencing heartbreak and romantic disappointments), feeling not fit enough, etc. The shoot made me feel I am worth it. I am out there, and I deserve self-love!”

Batsheva, thank you for choosing me as your boudoir photographer. I am so honored that you trusted me, and I absolutely love what we created together.

Stay tuned for more pictures from our second session…

Hair and Makeup by Tiferet Lehrman

Reclaiming My Own Power | Boudoir Mini-Session : Anna

I immediately became connected and excited about Anna’s personal vision for her boudoir session when we first spoke over the phone. As a photography lover herself, she mentioned how much she loved film, particularly black and white film, and how she’d enjoy pictures with movement and grain. It’s the best feeling as an artist when you know that your client not only appreciates your body of work, but that you are free to create. There’s a beautiful flow that happens between a photographer and their subject when that initial trust is established.

On a Friday morning in Tel Aviv, during our annual Valentine’s Day Mini-Sessions, I began photographing this breathtaking woman. I could just feel the depth of her story coming through my lens. With her quiet, yet graceful demeanor, I didn’t know much about Anna yet, but I knew she was special…

“I came to Israel from Latvia at age 18. Until then, I was actually a very self-confident and strong person, I knew I was a good looking girl, and it came with benefits. It was never a bad or a scary thing, but suddenly it all changed.

Coming to Israel, a country today I love with all of my heart, made me to go through a "coming of age".  Only years later I've realized that putting on more than 10 kilograms of weight and changing my dressing style completely was my way to deal with this new self of a silent (no Hebrew, I was only trying to communicate in English) and a little bit scared young woman. Men were reaching to me, often flirting aggressively, and making me very uncomfortable. It took me years to get back to my voice, my confident self, and to decide, that no one shall make me uncomfortable because of my looks or for any other reason.

This boudoir session was a symbolic closure for me. I'm not afraid to celebrate my womanhood, sensuality or my looks anymore. I have grown into being proud of myself, to defend myself and love myself completely. My loving partner and father of my son also played a significant part in my becoming the woman I am today…

For me, going through this boudoir experience is also  the way to get a piece of Art , by the Great Artist, that celebrates Me. One can call it a pure Narcissism, and I’m OK with it. A Narcissist. A Feminist. An Art Lover. I don't owe anyone the definition of Myself.

It's between Me and Myself.”

“What surprised me most about my boudoir session was that I was able to let my control freak go, and I still enjoyed myself. I’m not perfect, I’m me. I believe that that whole experience made me a bit more loving and self-accepting.”

“I would recommend this experience to every friend of mine and to any woman in general. Rebecca takes your self-love and brings it to the next level. She knows how to put a light on all of our best angles. She knows how to make you comfortable. Even her voice and her speech manner help you to believe that you're doing great and the results will surprise you, even if you are someone who already learned to love yourself. And if you haven't, Rebecca has even more to offer you. Rebecca brings a loving eye. That's the main thing that matters, not even her great technical skills and not her experience manage this act of love, but her eyes that see the best in you. I'm looking forward to a full boudoir session with her soon.”

Makeup by Makeup by Shosh