Hi, I’m Shirley (Shirls)
I’m your photographer
Through My Eyes
More than boudoir. A different way of seeing yourself.
I’ve been a photographer for more than 20 years, but my journey to the camera began long before that.
My first profession was nursing. Then came modelling for 15 years, followed by many years as a fashion photographer in Rome, Italy. In 2010, I took a natural step sideways — away from photographing professional models and towards photographing real women.
It was a change that brought all my previous jobs together.
My background in nursing reflected my natural instinct to care for people. Modelling taught me what it feels like to be in front of a camera. Fashion photography taught me how to create an image. But over time, I realised I could bring all three together for a more meaningful purpose.
I wanted women to see themselves through someone else’s eyes — perhaps for the first time, and perhaps in a way they had never imagined possible.
That became the heart of my work and the title of my portfolio book of work, Through My Eyes.
So, what exactly do I do?
Boudoir is the name most people recognise, but it doesn't quite describe what I create.
My work brings together editorial fashion, beautiful lingerie portraits and fine-art nude photography. The result is personal, considered and unapologetically individual.
I work with women of all shapes, sizes, ages and backgrounds. You don't need to be a model. You don't need to know how to pose. And you certainly don't need to arrive feeling confident in front of a camera.
That's my job.
Whether you're a mother, a businesswoman, a wife, a partner, or simply a woman who wants to do something for herself, you deserve to be seen as more than the roles you fulfil for everyone else.
My photography is about allowing you to see another side of yourself — one that is already there, even if you haven't seen it yet.
JUST YOU AND ME
I don't use AI to create my images. Every photograph is captured and personally edited by me, preserving the authenticity and individuality of every woman I photograph. There is no team following you around during your shoot. No entourage. No other people watching you change, pose or find your confidence.
There is only me.
And that's entirely deliberate.
It makes my job considerably harder to not have assistants, but your experience considerably easier. I want you to feel comfortable, respected and free to be yourself, without an audience.
My makeup artists are women, and they finish their work before I arrive. I photograph you, direct you, and personally edit and post-process your images and book. My printer is a woman, too.
From the beginning to the final print, I keep the experience as personal as possible.
FOR WOMEN OF EVERY AGE
Most of the women I photograph are in their 40s and 50s. Many have spent years putting everyone else first. Some have never had professional photographs taken of themselves. Others simply want to celebrate who they are today.
But I photograph women of all ages. I won't hold it against you if you're younger — or older!
You don't have to wait until you've lost weight, grown your hair, changed your body or reached some imaginary version of perfection.
You can come exactly as you are.
WHERE AM I?
I'm based in Italy and the UK and photograph women there and internationally. Quite literally, I'll fly to you.
In 2010, I introduced my style of photography to the UAE, primarily in Dubai, and Saudi Arabia, becoming the first photographer to offer this approach in these regions.
And yes, I'm also the photographer behind the famous Burj Khalifa photographs. These aren't professional models posing against an impressive backdrop. They're real women — mothers, career women and women with lives and stories of their own — photographed alongside the world's tallest building.
Because what better way to remind the world that we're here, that we're extraordinary, and that we're not invisible
A FINAL THOUGHT
You don't have to be someone else for my camera.
You don't have to perform, pretend or become a model for a day.
You simply have to show up.
I'll take care of the rest.
This is Through My Eyes. And I'd love for you to see what I see.
Shirls x
INTERVIEW WITH SHIRLEY LAWSON FOR FULLFRAME MAGAZINE
Can you tell me a bit about how you became a photographer, how do you go from being a nurse in Scotland to professional international photographer?
Well, it’s a nice dinner table story actually. I was an 18 year old student nurse taking part in a demonstration for a pay rise in the UK, when I confronted the then prime minister, Mrs Thatcher, (yes, I am that old!). The photo of this young militant nurse, shouting at the PM, became quite famous and is still used today as symbolic of the nurses struggle to earn a fair deal.
Cut to : I was contacted by a model agency after this photograph made front pages and dived into the world of fashion. Fifteen years later, I retired from modelling and also took my “hobby” more seriously to became a photographer. I’ve been away from Scotland for 20+ years now. Moved to Rome, then Dubai and back to Italy. I’m now based in Umbria, Italy and own a guesthouse/farmhouse full of animals, it’s my safe space, and I also shoot there
How would you describe your approach to boudoir photography? You’ve done some quite powerful shots in the past: what’s your working process like, how do you make the moment happen where they seem so sensual and real?
Thank you. Well, I think the two most powerful tools I have is that I’m a woman. And the second is I shoot alone.
I refuse to have any assistants on a shoot. Then it’s just me and the woman. That helps a lot. Harder for me for sure, having to juggle and wishing I had 6 arms, but so much better for the woman. But this way she’s more relaxed with no crew and I’ll even get down to my undies too if she’s really nervous. The results are as if we has a crew of ten on the day, even if i say so myself :D
I’m also naturally a people person and I care about my clients, so the first thing I do is have a chat. Does she have a vision for this shoot? Why is she doing it? During our chat I get a sense of her personality, see her body type and roughly gauge how the shoot will go.
I shoot in their own home or in a hotel, both are similar results but I much prefer shooting in their home. I move furniture, I move objects, I follow the natural light, and they are much more relaxed than if they were in a studio. I would never shoot this type of photography in a studio or with artificial light again.
How do I make them seem so sensual and real?
I think women have no idea how the most natural and everyday gestures are so sensual. So I will not pose them, but I will prompt with, ‘’pretend you’re fixing your earring, adjusting your shoe, putting on your lipstick’’ etc…
She’s in wonderful lingerie, hair in shiny, soft curls and beautiful makeup with wonderful light. How can she be anything else but sensual? Just being a woman is enough. Making it look real is easy, the ingredients are all there. But I also shoot the extreme opposite of natural on the day too. I like to call it my Art Deco posing (think of those lamps from that era), with exaggerated poses in shadowed silhouette light which a lot of clients frame later for their walls.
Does it ever happen that you can’t manage to make them feel relaxed?
I’ve shoot hundreds of women. I’ve lost count. I still managed to deliver amazing images even though they were some extremely nervous women, so I suppose thats what’s important. But still, I’d like to shoot these women again…they won’t be nervous second time round because they relaxed when we were almost finished the shoot (Shirley laughs). But there is no time limit in my shoots. I shoot until I am happy with what I have to work with
Has there been a model who has really surprised you, who was totally different from what you expected?
Firstly, I don’t shoot models anymore. I shoot women who’ve never done a shoot or anything like this before, older women. I think the thing that often surprises me is the women you expect to be full of self confidence are often the ones with the least. And then I get a sassy woman who knows who she is and is full of confidence. Either way, one takes a longer time to shoot than the other, I shoot till I have what I need, or, till after sunset :D
How do you get inspired and what inspires you the most: movies, books or magazines or is it just what’s around you?
Ooooh good question. I have no idea actually! I will say, that I very deliberately don’t follow any boudoir photographers at all. I have a photographic memory and I know if I see someone else’s work it will stay with me. Therefor, it might pop up in my head during a shoot and I’ll never be sure if this is my concept or something I’ve seen in the past. Best way to avoid that, for me, is just don’t look at other work, that simple. There is far too many repeat images of boudoir floating around with no originality. I’m also obsessed with symmetry which is apparent in a lot my work.
I do love some older black and white movies, I feel they move me in some shoots. I’ve never run out of ideas or stop to think. I tell my clients when we’re chatting before the shoot, that once I have my camera in my hands, I become a different person and I’ll be bossing them around and shouting from the other side of the room. I think they love the experience of having a professional photographer for the day and feeling what it feels like to be a model if I’m honest. We laugh a lot, I curse a lot (when I get a great shot) and they love it!
What’s been the biggest highlight in your career so far?
It’s difficult to pinpoint one highlight because there have been so many. Having women cry when I deliver their images is amazing, having women write to me that I’ve literally changed their lives! It’s an incredible feeling and one I really never expected when I moved to this genre of photography. I never thought using my craft and experience of life, would have such in impact. And I don’t advertise or market in any way. All my clients come from a woman who’s had a shoot and tells her friends and shows off her images. I believe that’s the best compliment of all when you work entirely on recommendations.
What are you passionate about besides photography, what do you do in your free time?
Free time? What’s that? (laughs). I have a guesthouse in Italy and we produce olive oil, so running that in summer when I’m not shooting is mainly my free time and I also shoot there. That, and my animals, yoga and meditation. I hate gyms. I love movies and observing the cinematography. You might catch me peeping through my hands made into a tube shape whilst watching a movie like I’m taking a shot, embarrassing if you’re with me at the cinema I suppose!
I also paint. I paint abstracts, nudes, scenes from dreams I’ve had…acrylic on canvas
What are your plans for the rest of the day?
I’m in Dubai at the moment and the rest of this day will be at my desk culling, editing images from my last two shoots, designing books and heading over to chat with my printer. Then prep for tomorrow’s shoot. After all these years I still have a worn and torn checklist, force of habit now.
Then I have a yoga class in the evening and after, a pizza with a friend. Perfect day.
I did this shoot for me, I am single again, I’ve had a tough year and wanted to do something for myself. The album will always remind me of the strength I found to get myself through 2022.
Sally - San Diago