What it Feels Like to Be Seen: On Being Photographed as a Creative

I’ve lived so many lives with the creative industry over the course of my entire career. Blame it on my AuDHD if you like, but I consider myself so lucky to have multitudes of experience crammed into my 37 years of life.

From set assistant, prop stylist and now as a photographer, I can’t count the number of people I’ve watched step in front of the camera anymore. When the photographer can zoom into what makes you special, you absolutely SHINE. And don’t get me wrong…these people were NOT professional models. They were mostly all working entrepreneurs, freelancers and creatives that needed visibility for thier livelihoods.

I’ve been photographed a time or two as well–and even though I have spent so much time on a set or on location, I still get a little nervous unless I’ve worked with the photographer before. Of all the different professional photos I’ve had done of myself and my work, my favorites though, are the ones that I feel truly look like me. I look at them, and the girl staring back at me is the truest version of myself, my heart, and the work I’m doing.

And THAT is exactly what my ultimate goal is working with my clients. Whether we have a mini session or a full-day set, I will deep dive SO HARD into your website, your socials, your brand. I send you a questionnaire, and I read over your answers over and over and over again. I find archetypes to help me conceptulaize your photo session and come up with the perfect location for us. I use all of that to design vignettes on the set we’ll be working with. And with all of that, I aim for you to look at your digital gallery going, “Yes. That’s her. That’s me. That is absolutely me.”

What it means to be truly seen

There’s a moment that happens in almost every single session I do. I mean…there are lots of moments that happen in almost every session: the client comes in and isn’t quite sure which of all the outfits she brought she should wear first, or we dance to her favorite music, or we pack it all up feeling good about the session or whatever, but that’s not what I’m talking about.

I’m taking about the moment that she just stops performing. The moment she forgets that she’s being photographed and forgets about what she thinks is her good side or about sucking it in or her “three finger forehead” or whatever baggage we all carry around with us about being percieved. Or sometimes, it’s the opposite–it’s the hit a pose, hit a pose, hit a pose, fake cheese that she was trained on the first time a grownup pointed a camera at her at a dance recital. The moment that you forget these things in a session is when the real magic begins. This is when the performance is over and the real you comes right through.

That’s the moment I’m always looking forward to, and even though when my clients book me, it’s because they need photos for thier website or thier social media or for press pitches–this part of the experience is what thier SOUL needed.

In their own words

I can describe the experience all day long, but honestly, my clients say it better. Louise Minhas, a psychic medium who was my first client in the UK , put it this way:

“What a session with you can offer is to exponentially expand self confidence, helping them stand in their own power as professional healers, creatives and artists.”

She also spoke about the feeling of direction and ease, being “guided every step of the way” while it’s also fun (I mentioned dance parties, right?!). That pairing matters more than people realise. Safety and joy together. That’s where it’s at.

The confidence you didn’t know you were missing

I work with incredibly accomplished people. Practitioners who have transformed clients’ lives. Makers whose work sells internationally. Artists with decades of practice. And almost all of them, at some point in our shoot day, say some version of: “I’m not sure I’m very photogenic.”

What they mean is: I’m not sure I’m allowed to take up this much space. I’m not sure my face, my body, my presence deserves this kind of attention.

Part of my job, and probably the MOST important part of my job, is holding the space where that belief can quietly dissolve. Through direction, yes. Through finding the right light and the right moment. But mostly through genuinely believing, and communicating, that the person on the other side of my camera lense deserves all the spotlight the world has to offer her and more.

What you leave with

Of course, you leave with photographs. Images that represent your work honestly and beautifully that you can put on your website, pitch to magazines, use on your booking page, share across social media, all that jazz.

But if we’ve done it right, you also leave with something less tangible. A sense that your work is visible. That you are visible. That someone looked at what you do and said: this matters, and I want other people to see it too.

I want every client to feel that. Not as a nice add-on, or a like…that’s what makes you like me after you leave or whatever…as the whole point.

Could this be for you?

If you’re a healer, maker or creative in or around London and you’ve been putting off getting proper photographs done, I’d love to talk. Not to sell you a package, but to hear about your work and see whether we’d be a good fit.

Because the right photographs don’t just show what you do. They show who you are when you’re doing what you love most.

And that’s what this world really needs!

→lets connect.

Based in London, traveling the world. Working with healers, makers and creatives who are ready to be seen.