Be the client for your own service or product

As a photographer, I don’t always follow my own advice:

Be present in the moment and let others take photos of your experiences.
Don’t wait for the perfect moment.
Let someone take the photo, no matter what your hair is doing, whether you’ve got makeup on your face or you haven’t lost the weight you’ve been trying to shift for a while.

Photos are not just for milestones but that’s when we usually remember to take them.

All my life, I never felt ready to be in front of the camera. I wasn’t enough…. (fill in the blank). However, I know it’s important to put myself into my client’s shoes every now and then.

Since starting my business in 2010, I booked 4 photo sessions with different photographers. With every experience, I learned something new about being a client. But also about how to improve my own offerings and processes.

None of those 4 experiences were perfect, based on what I know now about running a smooth, successful photography business. Yet, every experience was really enjoyable and worth every penny I paid.

And most importantly, all 4 photographers created images of me that I loved – something that surprised me every time.

Below are photos from 2012 by Benj Haisch, 2016 by Adrienne Pitts, 2020 by Ami Roberston aka The Woman and the Wolf. All of these photos represent a different phase in my life.

This year, I booked another photographer – Nadia Meli. Nadia has been a part of my professional journey for almost 10 years, as an inspiration and a colleague. We only met a handful of times when we both lived in Brighton but for years I wanted her to photograph me – not really for my business but for myself. But it always felt like an indulgence, something too expensive to treat myself with.

Then I turned 40 last year and it just hit me that time goes by too quickly. We grow older, we change and suddenly priorities are starting to shift.

Without having reached my lifelong goal of having a certain body and looking a certain way, I decided it was time to document who I was for a future me. I regret not having many photos of myself when I was younger. I was hiding from the camera so I wouldn’t have to look at my imperfections. Now I’m learning to accept those “flaws”.

We’re not getting younger but youth isn’t the only thing worth photographing.

So I decided to hire Nadia to take portraits of me, the way she sees me. I had no concept, no expectations, no plan. I trusted Nadia completely – I know her style, I’m aware of what she can do with her camera and I was ready to let myself guide by her vision.

And boy did she deliver!

We spent less than 2 hours together and while I was nervous at first, Nadia had a way of making me feel safe and comfortable from the moment she arrived.

I left the studio with a smile, hoping that every single one of my clients walks away with this feeling of gratitude, calm and euphoria that Nadia had evoked in me.

While I had worked with other photographers in the past, no other session had this effect on me (and that has nothing to do with the other artists, only with myself). That gratitude for living this life and having this experience felt immense. 

I’d never been so aware of being the client of my own service and what I can learn from this experience until that day. This session, being on the other side of the camera, put in perspective for me how I want to serve my clients. How I want my process to be so, when you work with me, you feel safe, looked after and well served.

It also felt really empowering to spend money on a luxury service like photography just for myself. Photos don’t need a practical reason.