A Coast photographer is planning a boudoir Christmas shoot for adults. What to know.
As a photographer, Porsche Spann was familiar with the usual Christmas photo shoot setup, featuring smiling kids, a festively decorated tree, maybe piles of presents or even Santa Claus himself.
But this year, the 32-year-old Gulfport High School graduate had other ideas. Spann, who now lives in Pensacola but frequently works on the Mississippi Coast, recently launched a boudoir photo business. She recently asked her women followers on Instagram if they would be interested in a Naughty Santa photo shoot, co-starring a man with a decidedly un-Santa-like physique.
The response was enthusiastic.
“‘If kids can sit on Santa’s lap, then why can’t we?’ One of the ladies had messaged me that,” she said. “And I was like, you got a point.”
Spann reached out to her father’s personal trainer, a Mississippi native now living in Mobile. He’s also a body builder, a high school football coach, and a father of three boys. (He asked that his name not be used because he’s in the process of applying for other coaching jobs and doesn’t want to create a distraction.)
Would he be interested in playing the role of Naughty Santa? He’d never dressed up as Santa, naughty or otherwise, but was excited to give it a try.
“I think the concept is awesome,” he said. “It’s about being creative.”
Wearing a Santa hat and pants (but no shirt), the body builder held a plastic candy cane and smoldered for the camera.
Spann posted the photos on Instagram to find out if she could get enough interest to plan a one-day photo shoot, where women could book a time slot for their photos with Naughty Santa. If enough people sign up, she hopes to make the shoot happen this holiday season or later on.
A lifelong fascination with photography
Photography has been a part of Spann’s life since she was a young child. She spent her early years in Chicago, where her parents worked for a printing and records company called Mi-Te. Her father’s role was developing film strips.
“I remember being in the dark room with him, seeing these film strips go from something [that] I didn’t know what it was, to an actual photograph,” she said.
Her grandmother also loved taking photographs, and Spann was a favorite subject. When Spann was in fifth grade, she asked for her first camera to document her elementary school’s field day.
When her husband asked why she didn’t turn her photography background into a business, “the lightbulb went off.”
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In July 2019, she officially launched Porsche Simone Photography.
Boudoir & celebrating women
Boudoir photography is a more recent specialty. Over the summer, Spann gathered a group of girlfriends and shot different scenes for eight hours. She started posting the photos on social media to generate interest in her business. Now, she’s taking on clients for boudoir shoots.
“I’ve always been pretty in tune with my sexiness and that’s not anything that I’ve ever shied away from,” she said. “It just kind of came back full circle for me.
Spann said boudoir photography just feels right.
“I just love women,” she said. “I love everything about us. I’m all for women’s empowerment.”
Especially during the holiday season, when women face pressure to create picture-perfect experiences for their families, Spann wanted to create a way to celebrate women as people independent of their family roles
“That’s the whole point of it: wanting women to realize, no you don’t have to just be this title, you don’t have to just be the mom, the wife, what have you,” Spann said.
