Although it might seem like most models are born with natural confidence, Catherine shares that it has less to do with confidence and more to do with the desire to express their creativity. She is a Quebecois photographer that she was more creative as the subject.
Catherine is a fashion photographer and model. She grew up in Quebec and is still living there, she loves this place.
How It All Started
There wasn’t a big photographer’s community when she started, but now there is. So now it’s become easier to meet and work with people doing that activity.
Catherine started photography almost 11 years ago just for fun, because she liked to take pictures of her outfit and make-up as she was a big fan of fashion magazines, and she wanted to be a model.
You can still see her fashion hype on her page.
She told us about the time when she was young, where there was a big mirror in her parents’ bathroom, that she used to take pictures in front of, using a normal camera, as there were no phones with cameras back then. “This is where it started; doing portraits but on the mirror.”
Due to the people’s interest in Catherine’s own portraits, she also did portraits of others.
At one point, Catherine realized that her creative process really includes her coming up with the ideas, the outfits, the artistic direction, and doing the modeling.
Yet she also likes to take pictures of other people, which makes her feel good about having the subject look into her camera and feel confident about how they look.
She took many portraits of teenagers who wanted to take pictures of themselves and feel confident, “and when they looked at it they were like, omg I love that I feel like I’m beautiful, and it was really a great feeling.”
“When you are good with yourself, you know you have your flaws, you know you have your limits, and you know what you love… Just when you know yourself I think, it’s just key to be confident.”
Photography As An Escape
Photography to Catherine is also like an escape.
Catherine’s full time job is working in an elementary school with children who have behavioral problems; whereas photography was more like a hobby at first, that eventually turned into a passion.
Catherine likes to be creative, so she’s trying to use things that aren’t just mundane things, but always the next things to come, just like in fashion. So this is what she uses more in her pictures.
For people who are at home and not sure how to express themselves, Catherine advices them to simply try things. “When you look at my pictures, it’s sometimes not my first attempt…Sometimes I went to three places to do the same pictures, and I went to the last one and said OKAY THIS IS IT!”
“You need to try things, you need to just go and look around you, because when you do photography, and you walk around, your eyes change…so you need to try to see the beautiful in every little thing and every little décor.”
Even in her daily walks, she randomly spots a place that attracts her eyes, and decides to come back later with her gear and outfit, and take her pictures there. “So just open your eyes.”
Her Imagery and How She Portrays Herself
Catherine says that there is always creativity in her pictures. Sometimes her pictures can look simple but there’s always a creativity process.
It’s really important for her that people see that, and not just that she took random pictures using her cellphone. Before taking her pictures, she really thinks of what she wants it to be, so she hopes people can see that when they look in her gallery.
For more of Catherine’s podcast, listen here https://open.spotify.com/episode/5Ieca9I3Dda6foC8VXEJKM
Photo by Catherine Beaumier on Scopio
Written by Angela Zoghbi
Content Creator
Leave a comment