Last year I collaborated with Ana while I was on a trip to Victoria.
(And before we get into the shoot, can I just say damn that city had me seriously wondering if I should move back to the west coast. Especially after experiencing the freezing temps of winter in Montreal this past season. That was something else. No wonder we grow a thick skin here! Anyway… I digress.)
At 18 years old, Ana left everything she knew in Mexico to come to Canada. She had $1000, an 8-month visa, and was crashing with a friend’s brother while she got her feet on the ground. To make the story even cooler, she left Mexico on the day of her 18th birthday. Didn’t waste a second! Talk about adventure. Real adventure, not the carefully posed and meticulously curated shit you see these days in adventure magazines and blogs. This was the real deal. Taking a chance and jumping head first into a new life.
Along the way, Ana found an incredible family who have since became her adopted Canadian family. She extended her visa and plans to apply for her residency as soon as she finishes her degree. At the moment she’s studying business and has some big dreams. In the short time I spent with her I learned that she can do whatever she puts her mind to. To give you a taste, here’s a little something she wrote about coming here 🙂
“Before I was coming, I was enrolled in law school but things didn’t seem right because I always wanted be able to travel with the profession I chose, and I knew I was going to be attached to my home country if I pursued that type of career. I knew a couple of people in Canada and they both happened to be living in Vancouver. They all said amazing things about the city, and I decided to do research and that’s how I fell for Vancouver the first time. I moved with my best friend’s older brother for the first couple of months and then I lived by myself with a Canadian roommate. I connected with a Canadian family through some acquaintances and they basically adopted me – a costume designer and an accountant with a lovely six year old who loves Pokemon. I’ve found myself surrounded with so many people with different backgrounds and ethnicities, who I never thought could be this close to me but they all became family . ”
Soul Sessionz is my own take on boudoir photography where the focus isn’t about just putting on revealing lingerie and posing in sexy ways for the camera. It’s about capturing a part of who you actually are. A lazy Sunday. A walk along the beach. A bath with your favourite music in the background. The goal is to capture a series of images – clothed or unclothed – that you can look back on later in life. No need for a special event. It doesn’t have to be for a partner.
A time capsule of sorts.
A shoot just for you.
I’ll be featuring more of these types of boudoir shoots in the coming months. Please contact me if you’d like information on when and how to get started. My schedule can be very busy with weddings and other shoots along with travel, so please understand that it could be months before we can get something set up.
I put great care Into these types of shoots, so I don’t just knock out 5-6 a week, but I promise it’ll be worth the wait.
