Portraits as Inner Work: The Origin Story Behind Embodied Sessions

About a year ago, I began experimenting with a new style of portrait photography I eventually named Embodied Portraits. The idea came to me during my own struggle with being seen, with self confidence, and with anxiety that never seemed to let up.

I spend my days as a constant scanner of expressions, body language, and how people take up space. But like most of my clients, my inner critic is loud, and I often spend more time in my head than actually in my body.

Somewhere along the way, I discovered that when those waves of anxiety hit, if I got up and shook my entire body, the anxious energy would dissipate. The butterflies would settle. My body would relax back down. Sometimes we don't realize exactly how on guard we are until we finally let it go.

What started as a personal practice to cope with getting trapped in my own head turned into something bigger. I found that it didn't just work for me. It worked for others too. That's what led me to wonder what would happen if I could get my clients entirely out of their minds and completely into their bodies, in a way that didn't require dancing, rhythm, or coordination, since I have none of those myself.

I won't pretend I knew what would come of it the first time I tried this with a subject. But slowly, over a handful of test sessions with people I'd worked with before, something incredible emerged. And it wasn't just photographs.

I was still on the fence about offering this to the public until something happened in the studio that felt like a sign I couldn't ignore.

A session that had nothing to do with Embodied was underway, and I could tell my client was completely locked in her head, unable to relax or let go. I stopped the session and told her we needed to loosen her up. Shake it out. She looked at me like I'd lost my mind, so I stood up and demonstrated the wildest shaking she'd ever seen, then walked over so we could shake together. After an awkward ten seconds, all the nerves and pretense dropped away, and she settled into a session that changed something in her.

I knew in that moment there was something real happening here. Within a few weeks I ran my first full Embodied only sessions.

What Embodied Sessions Actually Are

An Embodied session moves away from a normal portrait experience. There are no multiple outfits, no coached expressions, no traditional posing to get right. During the session, I guide you through imaginative movement prompts, simple enough for anyone regardless of skill level or coordination. Over the course of an hour, you move through a full sequence that reveals how you carry yourself, how you take up space, and how you emote when you're not scrutinizing every detail about who you are.

The finished images tell a story in movement, shape, and expression. This is the kind of session where a picture really is worth a thousand words.

What It Feels Like From the Inside

A recent client described living most of her life pushing through pain her body never let her forget. Years of diagnoses, specialists, and treatment had taught her to treat her body as something to overcome. When she found out about Embodied sessions, she knew exactly why she needed one. She wanted to see her mind and body in sync, and to see what being whole actually looked like.

Her words afterward stayed with me.

She said that when she looks at her photographs now, she doesn't see her diagnoses, her scars, or years of pain. She sees a woman who finally loves all of herself. For the first time in her life, she said, she felt fully herself. Embodied. Mind, body, spirit, soul, all in the same frame.

Should This Become a Permanent Offering?

Embodied sessions have run in one small booking window so far, tested with a handful of women willing to try something new.

I'm genuinely asking the question now.

Does this become part of the regular offerings at the studio, or does it stay something rare and occasional? (VOTE BELOW!)

If this is the kind of experience that pulls at you, one that asks you to be brave for an hour and hands you proof of your own strength afterward, reach out and let me know.

Should Embodied Portraits be a permanent offering at Melody Smith Portrait Studio?

• Yes! Make embodied permanent year round for everyone!
• No! Keep it exclusive and offered periodically.

Your interest helps shape whether more women in Petersburg, Richmond, and Central Virginia get the chance to experience it.