She Can 365 - Bio on a Photographer
Joanne Lewis • 16 October 2019
Inspirational Female Entrepreneur Feature of a Photographer from Hertford
Beginning on International Women’s Day 2019, SheCan365 have been publishing a daily interview with an inspirational woman in business.
Told in exactly 365 words, each story celebrates a female entrepreneur whose superpower is showing up every day – making the world a better place for it.
I'm really honoured to share their story on me from day 220...
Joanne Lewis, The Visual Storyteller at Joanne Lewis Photography Studio
Telling stories through pictures – letting individuality and personality shine through
Our second son Phoenix was stillborn. Everything had been perfect until my waters broke at 21 weeks. I held on for another month, but he died during labour.
I went into shock and couldn’t function – let alone work. I have no words for the feelings of devastation. If you asked my mum, she’d say I was broken.
At the time, most of my ‘mum friends’ were pregnant with their second child, which made me feel even more lonely and isolated. They didn’t know how to be around me. When you’ve experienced baby loss, you want to talk about your child, but often no-one else does.
I had another two miscarriages; then 18 months after losing Phoenix, I gave birth to Ezra at 32 weeks. In baby loss terminology, he’s a ‘rainbow baby’ – our rainbow after the storm; my whole life focused on my boys. As Ezra grew stronger and healthier, I felt ready to rekindle my freelance photography business…
In 2017 I invested in a residential course – looking forward with excitement to learning from six of the UK’s top photographers. The only class I dreaded was Sujata Setia’s session on newborn photography. After everything I’d been through, I still felt too traumatised to be around other babies – avoiding classes with Ezra and requesting home visits from the health visitor.
For all my fears, when I looked through the lens, something shifted… I was able to create beautiful photos of the newborn baby. It was a massive turning point and, from that day on, I have actively moved back into working with families.
Since then, my studio has become a haven of inclusion and empathy for bereaved families, rainbow babies and children with SEND. My eldest son Zachary has autism and ADHD, so I can relate to it all; no-one ever has to apologise for their children or their tears!
My photographic contributions to The Travelling Dress Project – exploring grief and loss – went viral. People from all over the world have been in touch – asking to talk and write about my work. My photos are being published in a book entitled ‘Parental Grief and Photographic Remembrance’.
Breaking baby loss taboos is helping to heal my heart.
I have been interviewed and had my photos published in books and online globally... Please check out some of the articles:
Breaking the taboo around child-loss and grief
- Bored Panda
Joanne Lewis - An intimate portrait
- Thalmaray (written in Dutch)
Paperback Book - Parental Grief and Photo Remembrance by Felicity Hamer (Emerald Publishing)
Another Inspirational female in business is Natalie Moss - Baby Photographer in Woking, Surrey
A picture of Santa and me...
... Buy one, Get one Free*
... a second print using the same photo for free*
... a mounted print of a photo she's created for me*
I couldn't let Black Friday 2020 go by without some amazing deals for my wonderful and valued customers... I've missed you all so much this year, but have loved the few shoots I was able to squeeze in between lockdowns and Home Education. With all the optimism I can muster for next year (I am naturally a pretty positive person) I am offering some spectacular deals on vouchers for my Hertford Studio and outdoor or on-location sessions next year (packages may be given as gifts, but please confirm preferred locations around Hertfordshire and some parts of London, Cambridgeshire and Essex with me before booking).
You will need: an egg box scissors black and white paint paint brush googly eyes glue (hot glue gun ideally) black felt tip pen string or ribbon for hanging
You will need: an egg box scissors white paint paint brush black felt tip pen or sharpie goggly eyes and glue (optional)
You will need: an egg box scissors Orange (or yellow and red) paint paint brush black felt tip pen or sharpie lollypop stick glue green paper/card for leaf
You will need: an egg box scissors black paint paint brush googly eyes glue Red paper/card for bow-tie White paper/card for shirt and teeth
You will need: an egg box scissors green and black paint (or I used a green egg box for the head) paint brush googly eyes glue black paper/card for hat orange paper/card for hair
