Meet the Chick Behind the Clique

Hi, I’m Maura Chick — boudoir photographer, confidence coach, professional hype woman, and the woman behind the camera who will absolutely lose her mind when you nail a shot.

I’ve been photographing women for more than a decade, and somewhere in all those years behind the camera, this work became about so much more than beautiful photographs.

It became about the stories women carry about themselves.

The things they believe they need to change first.

The weight they think they need to lose.

The confidence they think they need to find.

The age they think they need to turn back.

The version of themselves they think they need to become before they are finally allowed to feel good, take up space, be photographed, be seen.

And I understand that because I spent a long time believing those things too.

In 2001, I was living in New York City, working in Corporate America, and weighed more than 360 pounds [that number DOES NOT MATTER, read on].

At the time, I believed my body was the reason I wasn’t confident. I thought if I could just change how I looked, everything else would fall into place. I would finally feel beautiful. I would finally feel comfortable in my own skin. I would finally become the woman I wanted to be.

So I lost a significant amount of weight.

And I learned something that changed the way I understand confidence forever:

You can completely change your body and still carry the exact same beliefs about yourself.

No one really tells you that.

Changing what you see in the mirror doesn’t automatically change the voice in your head.

Confidence doesn’t magically arrive at a certain weight, clothing size, age, relationship status, income level, or milestone.

And I wish I could go back and tell that younger version of me that she did not need to become someone else before she deserved to like herself.

She deserved compassion then.

She deserved photographs then.

She deserved joy then.

She deserved to take up space then.

And so do you.

That belief has become a huge part of the work I do now.

I believe boudoir can be deeply therapeutic. Not because a camera fixes you, but because seeing yourself differently can interrupt old stories, challenge the way you’ve been viewing yourself, and give you a new experience to carry forward. That’s why I call this Self Confidence Therapy through the art of photography.

I’m not here to convince you that you have to love every single thing you see in the mirror every single day.

I’m here because I believe there is something incredibly powerful about giving yourself an experience that is just for you.

An afternoon where you stop taking care of everyone else.

Where your phone can wait.

Where work can wait.

Where the laundry, the kids, the responsibilities, the expectations and all the other noise can wait.

You get to be present.

You get to be sexy, powerful, soft, loud, glamorous, nervous, ridiculous, emotional, bold — whatever shows up.

And yes, I’m going to guide you through all of it.

You do not need to know how to pose.

You do not need to walk in feeling confident.

You do not need to “get ready” for this by changing your body.

You just need to show up.

My job is to create a space where you can let your guard down, trust the process, and experience yourself a little differently.

Sometimes that means seeing a photograph and thinking, Holy shit. That’s ME.

Sometimes it means realizing you were far more capable of stepping outside your comfort zone than you thought.

Sometimes it is simply giving yourself permission to do something because you wanted to — without needing another reason.

And sometimes there are tears.

Usually there is a lot of laughing.

There is also a very good chance you’ll hear yelling from behind my camera because subtle encouragement has never really been my thing.

I want you to leave my studio with incredible photographs, of course. But more importantly, I want you to walk out with your head held high, a little swagger in your step, and a kind of confidence that feels undeniable.

I want the experience to belong to you.

Not to a partner.

Not to the person looking at the photographs.

Not to whatever standard you’ve been trying to meet.

To you.

Because your body is not a prerequisite for living your life.

You do not have to become smaller, younger, prettier, braver or more confident before you are allowed to celebrate yourself.

You don’t have to wait until you become some imaginary “better version” of you.

This version counts.

The woman you are right now counts.

And I would be honored to photograph her.

So if you’re nervous? Come nervous.

If you’ve never done anything like this before? Even better.

If a tiny part of you is whispering, I really want to do this, but I don’t know if I can…

Come see what happens when you decide to do it anyway.

I’ll be right there behind the camera cheering you on.

BOUDOIR PHOTO SHOOT INFO (including pricing) can be found here.