About - Body Positive Photographer - Asheville, NC
Hi, I’m Helen Joy.
I'm a deep-hearted, sensual being who thrives on connection and authenticity. My sessions aren't about fitting you into a box or a pose. They're about showing up as you in all your glorious complexity and making photographs that go far beyond what you look like.
Author, artist, burlesque dancer, and liberated woman and for over 20 years, the person who takes you to the woods to find yourself.
20+ years behind the lens · Woodland sessions near Asheville, NC · Published author · Pole instructor & burlesque performer
My story
You are allowed to outgrow the person you used to be.
Helen Joy is a photographer, writer, burlesque and pole dancer, and incessantly curious artist whose main calling in this world is to help make people stop and feel good in their bodies. She has carefully hewn her craft of portrait photography over the past 25 years and is an expert in light and bodies. She doesn’t just photograph people. Helen Joy is WITH people, holding space for all the feelings that come with transformation and liberation.
She is also on a constant quest in her own life to be seen and to be present. Helen Joy is a self portrait artist, author of 5 published books, and radical 40 something performer who focuses on showing the human experience through art.
Through her own journey of body and self love, she has paved the way for you to also take this journey. If you want to have your picture made, but feel awkward and not ready, she is happy to show you the way.
Helen Joy is unserious in all the best ways, and reverent when it’s time for that. She is thoughtful, co collaborative, and historically makes even the most shy people feel comfy to get naked around her. She is always learning, unlearning, and dreaming of a world where all people are free and happy to be themselves.
This is an experience. Not a performance. You’re not posing for anyone’s gaze — you’re just showing up as you.
The common thread
Why I’m the right guide for this.
Whether I’m teaching, performing, writing, or photographing, it all comes back to four things.
01 — I want to be seen, and I want to see you.
02 — I want to create.
03 — I want to hold space for the duality of being human.
04 — I want to have so much fun doing it.
How I work
Three doorways in. Walk through one, or all of them.
Ritual
Mark an ending or a new beginning. We grieve what’s passing and step into what’s being born, and hold space for both.
Play
Bring a basket of costumes and alter egos. Fur coats, fantasy-novel main characters, or nothing at all. There are no wrong answers.
Being Seen
Every extra pound, every wrinkle, every doubt. You show up exactly as you are, and then the magic happens.
Who this is for
Every body. Every story.
Women, men, couples, friends, birthday crews. First-timers who are terrified and performers who’ve been on stage for years. If you’ve ever wondered why it’s so hard to feel at home in your own skin, you belong here.
We live in a world that profits from us being unhappy with our bodies. My work pushes back against that, one session at a time.
Follow
A year of self-portraits
I turn the camera on myself every week, the same vulnerability I ask of you. Follow along, plus Play Day announcements, on Instagram.
@yourbodyisfreakingart →
Questions people ask
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Most sessions happen outdoors in the woods, creeks, and mountains around Asheville, North Carolina. If you have a special place in mind, tell me about it when we chat.
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Absolutely. Every session starts with a conversation, and there’s no posing for anyone’s gaze. You set the pace, and I hold the space.
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Only if you want to be. Clients come fully dressed, in costume, in lingerie, or in nothing at all. There are no wrong answers.
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Whatever makes you feel alive. Many clients bring baskets of clothing and accessories to play dress-up, and sessions leave time for several looks and explorations.
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Book a session online and we’ll start with a conversation about what you want to explore. Feeling seen starts there.
Your body is art.
Feeling seen starts with a conversation.
Let’s see what we can create together.
