As a photographer specializing in sexy shoots, Victoria Caroline Haltom is used to women booking her services through her business, Victoria Caroline Boudoir, only to cancel when the fear of flaws becomes too overwhelming.
One particular client, a San Antonio wife and mother in her 40s, went through with the shoot but asked for the resulting pictures to be heavily Photoshopped, leaving her image 100 percent flawless.
In an interview with San Antonio Express-News, the 25-year-old photographer recalled,
[The client] said, 'I struggle with this, it's in my every thought, I want to see something different.'
Haltom agreed, but shortly after finishing the job, she received an email from her client's spouse, who was not satisfied with the surprise his wife sprung on him.
After consulting with both the husband and the wife, Haltom posted the email to Facebook.
Tonight I want to tell you ladies about a time I messed up really badly. It was back when I first started boudoir, and... Posted by Victoria Caroline Boudoir on Monday, October 12, 2015
In an account simultaneously heartbreaking and heartwarming, the husband of the woman wrote,
I have been with my wife since we were 18 years old, and we have two beautiful children together. We have had many ups and downs over the years, and… I KNOW that my wife did these pictures for me to 'spice things up.' She sometimes complains that I must not find her attractive, that she wouldn't blame me if I ever found someone younger.
With some remorse, he continued,
When I opened the album that she gave to me, my heart sank. These pictures... while they are beautiful... are not my wife. You made every one of her 'flaws' disappear... and while I'm sure this is exactly what she asked you to do, it took away everything that makes up our life. When you took away her stretch marks, you took away the documentation of my children. When you took away her wrinkles, you took away over two decades of our laughter, and our worries. When you took away her cellulite, you took away her love of baking and all the goodies we have eaten over the years.
Rather than criticize Haltom, the husband and father thanked her.
He wrote,
I am not telling you all of this to make you feel horrible, you're just doing your job and I get that. I am actually writing you to thank you. Seeing these images made me realize that I honestly do not tell my wife enough how much I LOVE her and adore her just as she is.
In Haltom's post, she claimed she “cried like a baby” after reading the email and asked customers to reconsider getting their photos heavily altered to appease their insecurities.
The post garnered over 1,800 likes and a ton of supportive comments, proving even those of us without ride-or-die husbands or wives could use some more self-love.
Citations: San Antonio husband, disappointed by retouched photos of his wife, touches thousands of hearts (San Antonio Express-News)
