Leslie Downs Photography - Body Positive Portraits

09/10/2025

Hi Friends. My journey is bringing me back to photography. And to jump in head first Im going to start with a creative project that Im very excited about. I dont want to release too many details as Id like the reveal to be some what of a surprise. Im going to need models. About 3 to 4 more. I have a couple already. There are no specific requirements other than being willing to collaborate with me, and offer your own thoughts and ideas on the project. Thats my favorite part of a project. The planning and collaboration. As always models will get their photos. So if interested and you're curious about the project please reach out. You may text me at 251-298-9609.

11/03/2024

I am back guys! I made this crown this time last year with the thought of trying to do a session again and life just had other plans for me. I am so happy that I finally did this, and it was the right time for it. I have spent majority of this year reconnecting with myself, nurturing my inner self and as I journey down this path the more connected I am with my creative side. I don't want to do art for hire, but I do plan on doing more creative sessions. If anyone has an idea they would love to try reach out and if I can make it happen I will.

08/14/2024

Hey ladies,
I had a session pop up in my memories and I went down memory lane. I know I’ve posted here and there these past few years and I’ve been very open about my struggles with depression. About 6 months ago I made a decision that has completely changed my life. I chose to do an inpatient program called Kinder in the Keys. It was non addiction center for women only. I was there a month focusing on me and my healing. I came home with so much more self love for myself. Which has helped me start to reconnect with parts of myself that I had lost. One of the most impactful parts of the treatment was the group therapy. I had the honor of being able to witness and hear these other amazingly strong women’s stories. As I scrolled through these pictures I thought of each and every one of your sessions and hearing your stories. I will forever be grateful that you guys chose to spend that time with me and allowed me to capture these intimate portraits of you. I realized that not only was I good at what I did… but I freaking miss it. I miss shooting, I miss connecting with other amazing women, I miss hearing their stories. So I think it’s time I pick up my camera, share my gift with you guys and have you share your stories with me. I no longer have a studio but my room would make a good backdrop for portraits. I’ll be starting from scratch so for the next few months it will just be portfolio rebuilding. If any of you would like to reconnect and have recent photos done please reach out. I’ll probably do one session a month on a weekend day.

Thank you everyone who has ever supported me. You’ll never know how much that meant to me.

Leslie Q

08/09/2021

Hi Everyone. This is another transparency post. I have been honest about my mental health struggles. Just when I think I am coming out on the other side I find myself sinking and drowning again. I have pulled away from things that use to bring me joy. I have isolated myself. My self image is at its lowest. My insecurities are at their highest. I’ve been thinking about how I felt when I was doing bo***ir photography. How rewarding it was to help other women see their beauty. I have no desire to earn money from helping to lift women up. It is Payment enough for me to know that maybe I can make a small impact on the healing of another woman and in turn maybe I will heal some too. So what I am proposing is doing one bo***ir/beauty portrait a month. Mentally that’s all I can do right now. This session is at no charge. I no longer have a studio so it will be up to you to find a location. I’m not sure if I am going to have a lot of interest in this so just in case I want all interested ladies to email me at [email protected] with your why, your struggles. Just tell me about yourself. One of my favorite things about photography was not just taking pictures but getting to know others. Learning their story. Tell me your story. I will pick someone for each month. I’m not sure how long Ill do this for. Anyways if you are interested shoot me an email and thank you in advance for participating in this project.

04/28/2021

Just a few more. I may start doing sessions on a limited basis for certain projects.

04/26/2021

There are so many that I loved from this session that I just have to share more.

04/25/2021

Guys, I have not held my camera since before the hurricane. It has been a struggle for me to find the inspiration to want to shoot again. Rosemary contacted me with her idea. I was still not sure if I was feeling inspired but once I was out with my camera I found my place. I am happy that I decided to do this. I always enjoy my time with Rosemary she is a beautiful person inside and out and I always love her ideas.

03/22/2021

Mental illness - emotional strength

This may be wordy, but I have some thoughts to share today. My sister and I were talking about some things yesterday and we talked about mental illness. I’ve had a lot of thoughts about it lately. We talked about previous generations and the stigma surrounding mental illness and therapy. About how therapy was for “crazy people”. I told her I think it’s because of the negative connotations around the word illness. I don’t think mental illness is necessarily always the right word when it comes to people who need either medication or therapy. We are taught how to strengthen our bodies. We are taught from a young age that exercise and a healthy diet makes our bodies strong. We are taught that through learning and education that we can strengthen our minds. We are given these tools and taught methods for this strength. However I feel like few of us are taught or given the tools when it comes to navigating emotions. We are kind of on our own having to figure out our own coping mechanisms. Just kind of fumbling our way through them. Doing whatever we can to survive. I’m not blaming anyone because previous generations weren’t given the tools to be able to teach. So we seek out help through therapists and/or medication to have the tools so we can relearn how to work through emotions. With the right tools we are able to work on our emotional strength. There is nothing wrong with being ill. Physically or mentally but I feel like it changes our frame of mind when we are working on strengthening apart of ourselves instead of healing from something. We have all experienced things in our lives that have presented us with complex and intense emotions that we don’t know how to handle. Now obviously there are people who genuinely struggle with things that are absolutely out of their control. Just like how some people physically can not work out to strengthen their body due to illness or injury some people can not simply just work on their emotional strength. The word illness is not a bad word. It is not a weak word. It does unfortunately still hold a great deal of stigma.

03/12/2021

My sister texted this to me this morning and I just loved it!

03/10/2021

I was going to try a video message but ladies and gentlemen I am just not a speaker. I always have a lot to say but I can’t seem to speak correctly. I however can type! So if you don’t mind reading you can continue on! Yesterday in the car my daughter and I were listening to Lizzo ( oh how I love her) and my daughter brought up how people give her a hard time because of her size. My daughter went on to say she works out, she is trying. I asked my daughter why does she have to try though? Why is it not enough for her to love herself as she is? She shouldn’t have to try for anything. I mean if she wants to work out for herself for whatever reason she wants to that’s great. But if she didn’t it’s no one’s business but her own. It’s amazing to me that people think it’s their business to comment on someone else’s weight and appearance. If people love themselves in the skin they are in who are we to tell them they shouldn’t. Hell even if they don’t love the skin they are in why do people think it’s acceptable to tell someone they are less valuable because they don’t find them pleasing to look at. It’s bu****it.

03/09/2021

Hi everyone,

It’s been so long since I’ve posted here. My kids and I lost our home from Hurricane Sally. I shot bo***ir out of my bedroom. So when I lost my home I lost the ability to be able to shoot. Life had already been crazy enough for my little family before the hurricane as we went through a lot of changes and adjustments. I’ll be honest after the storm I spiraled with all sorts of emotions and struggles and lost all interest in shooting. I was already working on dealing with anxiety and after the storm my depression became great. With the depression came great insecurities. I’ve been working really hard to get my headspace into a better place. The fog is slowly lifting and I’m starting to feel myself again. I’m still working on my insecurities and self confidence and while working through it it made me think of the work I did trying to help other women with theirs. I don’t have the space to shoot bo***ir right now. I would like to get back to shooting some and continue the body positive work I had started. I’m not sure what this is going to look like but I think it’s important. I think it will be healing for other women as well as myself. While I figure out how I can provide these services in a way that will continue my mission I am going to commit to posting more. It may just be messages for awhile, it may be revelations that I have come to as I work through my own journey. I’d like to invite you all to share your own messages and any ideas of how I can continue to help women see their worth even if it’s not through bo***ir. I appreciate you all so much and I hope each and everyone of you are doing well and if not I hope you are working towards well.

- Leslie Downs

08/27/2020