The time I had to photoshop a real life “Magic Mike” as part of my day job, and other fun facts about my story & the “why” behind Christine W Photography.
The question I learnt to ask at the tender age of two was, “why the sky?”
I quickly earned myself a few lovely family nicknames because of how often my response to things was “why?” But that’s another story for another day.
For today here’s a bit more about my story and the “why” behind Christine W photography.
Why it’s become my mission in life to celebrate the small, happy moments.
Why I hope to make my clients feel comfortable enough to let their individual beauty reflect in the real, beautiful moments of their story that I get to tell through my lens.
While most days I still feel a lot like that two year old up there, learning to walk this thing called life and why I’ll keep trying to figure out how all “the bigger kids” are making it work. And of course, why most days I sit quietly and contently in my corner of the business-owning world (wearing my slippers), completely in awe at why I am so lucky to be able to call this my job and my life.
SO? HOW DID THIS ALL HAPPEN?
Zimbabwean by birth, I spent the best childhood ever growing up there before moving to Johannesburg, South Africa when I was 15 to finish school. To keep myself busy because I had no friends (thankfully I made a few eventually), I convinced my parents to let me get a job in a Belgian chocolate shop after school and on weekends (even though I was underage). Melanie didn’t mind, and she was my first real mentor. A true #girlboss who was chasing after her dreams.
Also, I got to take home rejected chocolates (as if there is such a thing!) and soon got my hands on the holiday gift wrapping position. Cue my love for ALL the ribbon! It was literally, my dream job!!
THE PHOTO LAB
After a year, Melanie moved her business out of our neighbourhood and I hopped across the street to start working at the film photo lab with my new friend Michelle. Here I learnt the art of developing film rolls of blurry holiday snaps and even got to photoshop the studio images of a real life “Magic Mike.” Seriously. Ask me about this one day!
It was during this time that I discovered the first few wedding blogs out there (which I convinced my parents was part of my high school art project!) I browsed them for hours, dreaming of both my own wedding and being able to tell stories that mattered in those beautiful ways. Thankfully, even though blog reading often replaced book learning, I still managed to graduate and I was off to University in beautiful Cape Town.
WRITING & WHAT AM I GOING TO DO NOW?
Besides getting my degree in Media and Communications, I majored in feature writing and theatre, where I found my love for all things words. I also found my actual real love, in the shape of a friend named Andrew. Andrew, who patiently waited for me to kick my ridiculous long-distance boyfriend at the time, right to the curb. It took almost a year but we shared a love of food, terribly curated playlists and mutual crazy friends so it was fun while he stuck it out. He took me to the drive in for our first date and we ended the night push-starting the car up a hill. From that moment, I knew life with him would be an adventure. I may have gone home that night and told my mom that I thought he was “the one” and what was I going to do now?
Over the next four years we fell more and more for one another, we each got degrees, his a year longer than mine, and I reached the point in the road of “well, what am I going to do?” I had always envisioned living overseas for a while, but I wasn’t going without him. So I enrolled in a year long course of journalism. It was during this year that I was exposed to the world of photojournalism and video. I filmed and produced hilariously bad interviews, wrote a three week feature piece on a paramedic who drove to each accident scene to the “thunder struck” soundtrack and promptly figured out that neither war, nor court photography was for me.
THE PHOTOGRAPHY STUDIO DREAM JOB
During our breakup ( a 5 month stint where Andrew and I secretly dated for 3 of them – ask me about this too, we’re such losers!!), I landed my dream job as a junior photographer for a photography studio company in Cape Town. I wish I could show you what I took in as my portfolio. But still, it felt exciting and in the direction of my dream life and for my first “big girl” job it was a sweet deal. I was soon promoted to studio manager where I spent the year meeting so many happy people celebrating great moments in their lives and working ridiculously long weekend hours with super fun work buddies who were some of the best people. The job environment? Not so much.
SWIMMING IN THE DEEP END
So, a resignation paired with a decision to move to Canada with Andrew (Yay, we survived our breakup!), and not knowing how long the process would take (it took a while!), I decided that it was now or never when it came to my dream of being a wedding photographer. Did I know how little I would be a photographer and how much I would be a business owner? Nope. Did I have any experience? Two weddings with the studio. Did I do it anyway? Yes. A giant Yes.
So off I went and jumped right on in, head first (which looked a little less graceful than you are picturing right now!) into the deep end. I started photographing weddings solo. Why? Honestly? Because it felt like the right thing to do. My heart belonged to weddings and love and two people and their story. I just needed to tell them. I was lucky enough to have an investor from “the bank of dad,” who loaned me money for gear (& made me pay it back! Thank you dad!) I had friends who booked their weddings with me and told everyone they knew about me. I had clients who believed in me and said yes to me sharing their stories (I will be forever grateful!) and I had a boyfriend, who is now my husband, cheering me on really loudly and forcing me to believe in myself, even when I didn’t want to.
Also, I was naive. Which I think really really helps in the beginning. Yes, I cringe at my first business cards and still feel a little guilty that some of my most favourite people don’t get to have my “now-images” instead of “then-images.” Yes, I’m still learning a million and two lessons on this journey. No, I wouldn’t trade it for the world.
THAT TIME I NEARLY TRADED IT FOR THE WORLD
Moving to Canada is a long process. One that was long enough for me to shoot three full wedding seasons in Cape Town, right up until the weekend before we danced the night away at our own. We then had a friend’s wedding, I bridesmaid-ed at one of my bestie’s and we packed life up into colour coded boxes and hopped on a place with two suitcases (and a bag full of balancing rocks!!!) and crossed the oceans.
Needless to say, when we landed I was a little bit over weddings and a lot burnt out. Luckily, I couldn’t legally work for 13 months so I had a lot of time to 1. Get bored. 2. House hunt in the dead of the arctic tundra (Seriously Canada, you were cold that first year!) 3. Furnish a whole house on sale. 4. Discover Netflix. 5. Miss weddings so much I couldn’t think about never shooting one again.
WHY STARTING AGAIN ROCKS
Starting again, after a break and in a new country, has been a little scary I won’t lie. There have been times when a 9-5 and a good fat salary have been tempting. But starting again has made me fall so fast and so hard back in love with business building that I would almost go to say I recommend it at some point. Going back to the beginning and following the answer of “just because it is,” to the question of “why” has lead me here.
WHY I CHOOSE YOU
Just because I followed that feeling, I’ve been blessed with the most incredible, down-to-earth, fun-loving, trusting, gorgeous clients since jumping right into this dream in 2011. Clients whose beautiful and real and wonderful stories are the very reason behind my why and clients who so often become really great friends. Knowing that no matter what colour the napkins, flavour the cake, number of likes a post gets or which featured images are published, that I get to tell the stories that knit together lives? That’s so much more than enough of a “why” for me.
WHY I CHOOSE ME
This business-owning life has made me just about the biggest believer in the power (in fact, the necessity) of digging deep and being true to myself, no matter how fidgety or vulnerable this makes me feel. Why? Because in this world of photography and business and dream-chasing, I have found more of myself than ever before. Because at the end of my days here, I want to know that I stood tall in my authenticity. That I bared my soul, held nothing back, spoke my mind, listened softly and loved hard,with all my heart. That even though I fear the unknown, I choose to follow my dreams with reckless abandon anyway. That I gave myself the permission to move and grow and shift into my mould, what ever shape it may take. Because a life that’s lived loud and well and happy is the greatest life I could hope to live.
WHY NOW?
I want to mention that I most definitely don’t have this all worked out. Ha, if only you knew how far from worked out it all is. I’m still scribbling and searching. I totally freak out without “a plan” or a mind-map on the way forward. Often when I stop to pause I get edgy, but I’m slowly learning that it’s sometimes the best (and only) way forward. I’m competitive and comparative and I drive myself (and my poor husband) just a little nuts. But this little business of mine gives me space. To connect and learn and grow. To give and give and give and get one big ol’ full and happy heart in return. Yes, sometimes it’s hard and oh man, it’s always so worth it.
WHY? JUST BECAUSE.
Yup, in case you didn’t already know this, Moms are always right.
At least mine is anyway. Because even now that I’m a little older (no kidding), when I find myself asking “why” as I scribble and shoot and search, I always come to the same answer. The same answer my mum gave to that two year old all those years ago.
Just because that’s the way it is (and it’s often, just as it should be).
Most days, for me anyway, just having this little answer is enough.
xx
♡♡♡
Keep asking why. You will keep getting the answers!