The journey from meeting to photographing is an important part of my process

When Alice first wrote to me asking about some branding photography, I was pretty taken by how much she gave of herself in that first email. I knew that she wanted the feel of an old and beautiful library with lots of warm wooden paneling, that she’d prefer to communicate by email rather than in person for the time being and that she was dreading her first professional photoshoot!  

Alice is The Introvert Library, which offers all sorts of resource to help introverts create lives that work for them, completely individually for them. Being one herself, a hugely creative one at that, I learned to see how amazing she is at communicating her needs, desires and almost how warrior-like she is at coming out of her safe space and into new territory to achieve what she wants in life. It’s no surprise that this is one of her talents, how she shares this process with the people she coaches.

The journey from meeting to photographing is an important part of my process, in fact possibly more important to me than that point of clicking the shutter. I know this already in my personal projects as they often span over several months, so it becomes about those stories that develop and connect along the way. This was very much the case with Alice and me.

Discovering Sessions House in Usk was like lifting our mood board from the wall and giving it life in one place

We explored possible locations between us, I got brave by asking someone I hardly knew some pretty direct and personal questions, and she got even braver by answering them. We got to a stage where it was the most natural next step to actually talk in person, by this point we knew stuff about each other that only friends know.

Discovering Sessions House in Usk was like lifting our mood board from the wall and giving it life in one place. A beautifully restored historical courthouse, connected to Usk Prison via an underground walkway. Where previously, those standing in the dock, would quite likely be escorted via a now-blocked up tunnel directly underneath.

Learning of the infamous trial which took place there of leading suffragette, Lady Rhondda, added to the spice and seemed poignant given that 2018 celebrates a 100 years of women getting the vote. Now the building hosts civil ceremonies, away days and conferences, it also has a room there which holds the largest collection of Victorian books in the country. 

We spent a morning in theatrical shafts of natural light. Conjuring up juror’s findings and hearing the judge conclude with a hammer down of certainty. Mostly it was a day spent exploring Alice’s creative vision, to enable her to honestly and uniquely share what she’s got to give others.