When I first stumbled upon the world of photography, I had no idea there could be so much magic waiting at the end of your fingertips. I picked up a camera and began to explore fully at age 17, and I grew more and more curious with every click. One day, I stumbled upon the works of two amazing photographers whom I still look up to today with such marvel, Rosie Hardy and Karrah Kobus, and it’s an honor to say I’ve been able to learn from them both. Their images showed that photography can be more than just taking an image; it can become art. You can bring forth into reality that which only exists in dreams, bring light to important situations, and bring emotion to even the most unfeeling of hearts. In September we did just that.

Night before the workshop:
Rosie greeted me with glimmering eyes and a warm hug inside of the grocery store the taxi had dropped me off at. Adam, another amazing photographer that resides in the UK, and Jodie, the model for the workshop, had come with Rosie and we set forth on an epic food and supplies hunting adventure to stock up on nourishment. Once the errand was completed, we embarked to the site where the workshop would be held for the next two days. Upon arriving, I was in awe of how many stars I could see in the sky, the peaceful sounds of quiet night blessed every corner, and the cold instantly made us all crave coffee and hot chocolate. One by one the other attendees began to arrive, and we feasted on cake, loads of champagne, and exchanged the wildest photo-related stories we could muster while playing Never-Have-I-Ever, photography style!

                                                                                       (cell photo of the one of the houses)

Day 1: Having woken up in the treehouse each morning still leaves me in complete awe to this day. West Lexham is composed of gorgeously spacious grounds with gardens, lakes, an outdoor communal kitchen, and treehouse-styled rooms for people to stay within nature. We started the day with breakfast and a quick overview of Rosie’s work, listening to her explain her love and passion for self portraits, conceptual photography, and keeping your genuine imagination alive and breathing. Following a quick Q+A, we began our first shoot in front of the kitchen between some overgrown weeds and lovely little flowers. Jodie had transformed herself into a faerie almost flawlessly, and the magic soon began.

 

 

 

After an hour and a half of shooting, Rosie brought forth another outfit for Jodie to change into, thus forth bringing The Maiden of the Flowers to life.

 

 

 

 

The next two shoots planned for the day involved the beautiful lakeside view of the grounds. Alongside the edge of the river is an elevated terrace that allows you to peer below at the water, and Jodie gracefully placed herself beneath our view.

(For these shots I was practically leaning over the edge and almost fell a few times haha!)

To wrap up the end of an amazing day of shooting, Rosie, along with a few of the attendees, decided to jump into the water and swim, playfully screaming after not knowing how freezing the water actually was! We ended the night with a grand banquet dinner and a glitter party!!!

Day 2:

The last day of the workshop touched our hearts in so many ways. Those who got up super early were able to photograph Rosie in one of her personal gowns (I did not wake up early), and we followed with a romantic rowboat between the amazing wedding photography couple, James and Merika. Finishing up, we set off to find a cliffside beach on the shores of the coast for some dreamy golden light to shine through the clouds. To say the beach was absolutely freezing is a complete understatement, but we pushed through and continued capturing these two.

At the end of the workshop, we all shared our farewell words and hugs, and Rosie and I set forth on our way back to Manchester. We shared the car ride for 3 and a half hours, and I don’t think I’ve ever been able to get to know someone so well within such a short amount of time. We talked about our childhoods, the things we wish we had done and hadn’t, ways we cope with sadness and the lessons we’ve learned from it, we spoke of love and loss, and the impact those emotions channeled in the right ways can help heal, inspire, and nurture your heart. It’s with our own experiences that we can draw forth those feelings and combine them with your art, in the way you see, think, compose, and imagine. We cried, we laughed, we shared, and we became close friends. When she dropped me off at the hotel before I flew back home the next morning, she ran around the car and gave me the biggest hug as she said goodbye.

The entire plane ride home I could do nothing but reflect. I stopped doing personal work because I felt guilty working on art for me when I should be working on client work. And for that reason, I stopped doing self portraits. I felt guilty working on things to inspire myself. I stopped doing conceptual photos and I stopped writing, and my soul suffered for it. Self portraits and conceptual art is what inspired me to pursue photography as a career and gave me a therapy I could never thank enough times, a way to express what I felt, what I could see, and what was going on in my head. Doing my 365 Project a few years ago (only got to 155 but HEY that’s 155 more than when I had started) helped me learn how to shoot, compose, pose, and edit in the most skillful way I could have ever thought of. Photography was there for me when I truly needed it, and I don’t think I would be where I am now had I never taken those first few photos of myself.

But not anymore. I want to constantly be happy and feel that I’m being my true authentic self, the person that loves to daydream consistently, loses their head in the clouds on way too many occasions, and always shoot what I love with as much love as I can. I want to keep creating forever.

It’s been months now since I attended Rosie’s workshop, and I’m entirely my old self again, creating work just for me and bringing forth those ideas into reality, while maintaining a healthy balance with Nick and I’s client work. I never want to lose what connects me to my art and inspires me to always want to create. My soul is composed of story telling, a fascination for poetic writing, an inspiration for true love, and an imagination that will always stay dreaming. 

 

And in case anyone has ever wondered what a photography workshop looks like: