Happy birthday to us!
Despite covid-19, on 4 July 2021 we will celebrate our first year at our dream studio, right here in Belper. Despite only being able to be open for 5(ish!) months out of the last 12, it’s been an absolute joy to welcome clients to what many have described as a tardis building!
How was Be Bold Be You created?
Over the years on the highstreet, James & I were amazed to see how much our professional backgrounds complimented each other. The therapeutic value of the arts was, mostly unintentionally, seeked for by the public. The public knew they wanted a photoshoot, but wouldn’t always know why. James had learnt, over his years working in other studios, that it was normally due to a milestone that a family would want to be acknowledged and celebrated: A grandparents milestone birthday, for example… A new baby being born or a family wanting to capture multiple generations together. However, there was an even bigger “reason” from the modelling side of the business. These were normally much more personal reasons that needed time, rather than a memory of happiness in a photography studio. A “this is me” moment. Reasons including surviving an illness; household break ups; relationship changes including divorce or even domestic abuse. People had a basic human need to want to start “fresh” and a photoshoot seemed to be the start of that journey for so many. I could go into the theories of the therapeutic values and the alliances linked to this but this may be a blog post for another day…
With three children to think of, a lot of hospital visits for our eldest and far too many overheads to think about, we agreed that we didn’t want the pressures of a highstreet business, anymore. It took over two years, but we wound that business down and closed its doors, for good, in September 2019. This was an amazing decision, for us. Our family came first. We moved house and bought a run-down barn and, despite many, many obstacles, converted it into what you see today.
We all have a “this is me” moment - lots choose to celebrate this with a photoshoot. We are so, incredibly, lucky to have been able to shut the highstreet down and create “our moment” through the studio you now see today. Despite the odds (a cowboy builder, a rare long eared bat, two floods and a worldwide health pandemic) we’ve not only been able to open a photography studio that allows us to provide the service we want to provide and think our clients deserve - we’ve also been able to create a truly unique experience, through Be Bold Be You, that neither of us think would be alive in the way that it is, without, to quote James, “his camera and her books.” EVEN BETTER, we get to do it with our three children near by and a much, much healthier eldest daughter.
I hate the phrase “mailing lists”… It sounds so so robotic and impersonal… How about penfriends? I get that choosing to have a Boudoir Experience isn’t an overnight decision so let’s stay in touch and then when you are ready to book your Be Bold Be You moment, it’ll just be like picking up the phone to a friend.
Kirsty