Seen At 11: 'Dudeoir' Photography Helps Mix It Up For Valentine's Day
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) – For any guy who wants to break the Valentine's Day mold, there might just be a solution to make his partner blush.
There's a new trend that used to be reserved just for women that may set a new standard for romance.
"I would love to give my girlfriend something cool for Valentine's," Austin Schwab said.
So, Schwab is giving her a unique kind of photograph and he wanted it to capture something quite special.
"Giving that look like, when my girlfriend looks at the picture she's like: 'That's my man, that's mine,'" he said.
The type of photography is called "Dudeoir," not to be confused with boudoir photography.
"Boudoir photography specializes in beautiful portraits of a woman and 'dudeoir' photography are beautiful portraits of man or dude," photographer Natalie Licini told CBS2's Alice Gainer.
Licini said she's seeing more and more men looking for the treatment.
"Dudeoir photography is not necessarily about being shirtless or nude. For us, a very classic, timeless portrait could be a man in a three-piece suit," she said.
But like boudoir photography, it's all about capturing something more intimate.
"We do start with more clothing, and then we start to possibly unveil layer by layer," Licini said.
Ron Taliercio said these kinds of pictures are common in his work as a fitness model.
"I heard of boudoir for women, I didn't know that there was a dudeoir version of it," he said.
"We're crossing gender lines in terms of fashion, in terms of behavior, so really it was just a question of time before men would start giving these photos as gifts," clinical psychologist Dr. Barbara Greenberg said.
Greenberg says men are starting to understand it doesn't always have to be the woman as a symbol for sexy.
"Stepping out of a role can be fun and it can also be healthy," she said.
That was a goal for Marisol Saber when she scheduled a boudoir photography session for herself.
"It was very empowering. I was so happy with the way the whole experience was, and that kind of led to doing it for my husband," she said.
Saber scheduled a dudeoir shoot for him to commemorate his 50th birthday.
"That's him being proud of the way he looks," she said.
But for men who may be drawn to "less is more" in a photograph of women, Saber says she has a different preference.
"I love him in a suit and tie," she said. "It is very sexy."
Photographers say in addition to Valentine's Day, dudeoir photography is also popular as a first anniversary gift, which is traditionally paper.
