UNPOSED EPISODE 00
“Why Unposed? And why now?”
Intro music Summer Girl by Taketones
Welcome to Unposed.
This show is made possible by the generosity of Mrs Kristin Cawyer, her belief in this project and her faith in the message behind it. Your support helped bring Unposed into the world, and it does not go unnoticed.
 I’m Amber Lane, an award-winning boudoir photographer, unofficial confidence coach, and creator of a supportive online women’s community that’s been thriving since 2017. I’m also a woman who has spent the last fifteen years watching other women step in front of my camera apologizing for themselves, then leave feeling like a different person.
The conversations I’ve had with my clients, my staff, and the women in my group have changed my life for the better. I’ve seen my own outlook about my body grow more positive and I’ve felt connected to other women in ways I never dreamed possible. 
This podcast is born directly out of that transformation I’ve witnessed in myself and in others over and over.
I’ve spent most of my life thinking about my body.
Not in the abstract, philosophical kind of way.
I mean in the obsessive, quiet, exhausting way that colors every decision.
Does this outfit hide my insecurities?
Will they notice my stomach when I sit down?
Do I look like I’m trying too hard? Not hard enough?
And even as a photographer, someone who can confidently pose and light another woman into her own favorite version of herself, I really struggled to see myself with that same tenderness.
If you’re listening to this show, I’m guessing you know that feeling.
When I was in college, around 2004, I went out with a boy named Anthony.
He was handsome and kind, and liked me exactly the way I was, and he had planned this whole little weekend away. A charming bed and breakfast, wandering around the shops downtown, taking pictures of each other being young and in love, the kind of weekend you’d script for a romcom.
And instead, I spent most of that time trapped inside my own head.
Not present. Not really there.
I remember sitting in the car, worried about how I looked from that angle.
I remember the hot feeling down the back of my neck when the outfit I had planned didn’t look as good as I imagined when I packed it.
I remember how disappointed I felt every time he turned the camera around to show me a photo where all I could see were flaws. 
I remember the awful attitude I had, how it affected everything we did and everywhere we went. 
He was going out of his way to do something kind for me, and I was mean. Not because he did anything wrong, but because I wasn’t living up to an expectation I had set for myself that didn’t really matter. 
I remember so little about the actual weekend, because I wasn’t living it, I was beating myself up for not living up to the idealized version of myself I had created for this special trip.
And the wild thing is, when I look back at photos of myself from that weekend, or just that age in general; I was beautiful. I was vibrant. I was cute and had a fun energy. My looks were more conventionally attractive than I realized, and I have a hard time even remembering the specific things I was so fixated on at that time.
But I couldn’t see how beautiful I was then, so I didn’t experience it.
You probably have a version of that story too, it may not be a weekend away with your college boyfriend, but a vacation you didn’t enjoy because of a swimsuit, or an event where you felt insecure instead of excited, or a year of your life that’s missing in photos.
Most women do.
And that’s why I started this podcast, because I’m tired of that quiet theft.
This isn’t a show about becoming perfect, or loving every inch of your body every minute of the day.
I honestly don’t even believe that’s necessary.
Unposed is about peeling back the layer of performance and expectation, and getting to the part where you’re actually living your life, because you’re not spending all your energy thinking about how you look living it.
It’s about finding body peace; not being obsessed and preoccupied.
It’s about confidence that lasts longer than a new lipstick or a nice Instagram comment.
It’s about being soft, and sensual, and grounded in yourself without apology for the way you take up space.
It’s about being unposed.
 In your photos.
 In your conversations.
 In your life.
Throughout this show, we'll talk about five core pillars that shape womanhood in ways we don’t always put a name to:
Confidence; not the fake-it-til-you-make-it kind, not the loud kind, the calm, centered kind.
Body Image; how we see ourselves, how we talk to ourselves, and how we unlearn years of comparison, standards, and trends.
Femininity & Identity; the beauty of defining who you are and how you want to express it.
Sensuality; reclaiming desire, connection, and pleasure without shame.
And a Return to Self; the inner work of coming home to who you were before the world told you who to be.
If those words stir something in you, you’re in the right place.
This show will be honest.
 It will be warm.
 It’ll sometimes be a little raw.
Some weeks, it’ll just be you and me, talking about concepts like body neutrality, or the myth of “feeling ready,” or giving a photographer’s perspective on those AI portrait trends.
Other weeks, I’ll be sitting with guests whose stories add something rare and irreplaceable to the conversation. Therapists, writers, creatives, women who have survived and rebuilt, women who have learned to be sensual again, and women who are still in the messy middle of learning who they are.
This podcast isn’t a highlight reel, or an endless loop of feel-good phrases and toxic positivity.
 It’s a conversation.
 You are not listening to an expert tell you how to fix yourself, you’re sitting with a woman who’s walking the same path, just with a different angle on the map.
If you’ve ever looked at photos from five or ten years ago and thought,
 “Why did I hate myself then? I looked amazing.” this show is for you.
If you’ve ever postponed joy until you lost weight, this show is for you.
If you’ve ever avoided the camera because you were afraid of what you might see, this show is for you.
And if you’re ready to start living in your body instead of fighting it, I’d love for you to stay.
In the coming episodes, I’ll be sharing insights, stories and challenges, talking with burlesque performers, artists, and community advocates, and so much more. I’m incredibly grateful to watch this come together, and so excited for what I have lined up to share with you.
Thank you for being here.
 Thank you for showing up.
And if something in this episode resonated, send it to a friend who needs to hear it, or subscribe so you don’t miss what comes next.
This is Unposed.
 I’m Amber Lane.
 And I’ll see you next time.