Coffee Talk - My childhood in a psychiatric clinic

I have lived in a psychiatric clinic for 10 years and I had a wonderful childhood... I know what you are asking yourself: WHY. HOW. I can feel your curiosity growing. I am very tempted to keep the mystery and not giving you any details but if so, it would not be a blog article.

Let me put your confusion away... Hi, Fanny writing here and this is my story!

How it began?

My mom was working in this clinic in France for over 20 years. Her job was to help patients with their creativity, through arts and relaxation. She was working with people suffering of alcoholism, anorexia / bulimia, schizophrenia, dissociative identity disorder and other mental illnesses. The clinic was a big property with a park, a little forest, two manors, few houses for employees and other structures.

A benefit from her job was to be able to rent, for a very small amount, one of those houses and live on site. I was 5 when we moved in. The house was very small, I had my own little bedroom but my mom was living in the living room, not the best but we were happy.

The mystery is over, as you can read I wasn't there because of mental issues. My only problem was to be an heavy sleepwalker when I was young (which made me several times getting ready for school at midnight and even made my mom running after me at night in the street).

I was never bored

Even if we were living in the city, the clinic had a lot of greenery and I spent my time outside as much as I could. From climbing trees and building shacks, to rescuing little animals such as birds, mice, cats and even a dog once (you could have called me Snow White without the great voice), I could not get bored. I remember exploring the clinic like if I was adventurer or hiding from people I was on a mission. I build slides from wooden boards, which wasn't a success: my friend ended up with a 1 cm splinter in his bum.  And when I needed some quite time to relax or sulk, I was always going to the same tree. That was my spot, my peaceful location and it broke my heart when I heard they destroyed it few years ago.

Even if the patients there had severe mental illnesses, everybody knew me and I never felt any insecurity, never got into trouble even though I was creating them sometimes. As an only child, it was pretty easy for me to find creative ways to spend my free times when I didn't have my friends to play with me. My favourite activity was to block the paths people where walking on, hide in trees and scare them when they were close enough. Did people kept calling me a sweet angel after that? Actually yes they did!

Colourful personalties

• The other galaxy: One of the patient believed my mom was the queen of an alien tribe from an unknown planet, far away from our galaxy. But she sweared to never revealed my mom's secret!

• Power rangers: Another person believed he was one of the Power Rangers. I remember hearing that guy every morning in the park, screaming one of their famous lines and fighting against the air. This guy always made my mornings brighter!

• The one with the big heart: My mom had the authorization to bring a small group to the farmers market every Wednesday. One day on the way to the location, one of the patient fell in love with a big red strawberry stuffed toy and decided to love it for the rest of his life!

I remember people being happy but unfortunately I also heard and saw some dramatic moments, things such has death and violence I was too young to fully understand.

Acceptance you will learn

The great part of growing up in this type of environment, surrendered by psychological illnesses was I had to learn and understand that sometimes the brain does not work properly and people are suffering from it. I learnt to smile at instead of making fun of people who are different. It taught me acceptance, kindness and opened my mind on topics that can be quit taboo. 

I am so grateful to have had the chance to experiment it and build all of those beautiful memories of my childhood!

My favourite song about mental disorders: Olivia Ruiz - Le Tango Du Qui

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What to do when your life is falling apart.

Do you feel like nothing you knew makes sense anymore? Your left is right, your black is white? This is kind of what happened with us over the past few weeks: our lives changed drastically.  If you feel like yours is too, maybe we can help.

The good news: your life may be falling apart/changing in unexpected ways but it is very likely for the best.

We do believe in the saying "everything happens for a reason". Whether you made a chains of decisions to get there or someone did it for you, you have two options: you sink and spiral or you do the best you can not to.

It's okay to wallow

Hey. Sh*t just hit the fan. If you think it is not going to impact you and you will keep doing cartwheels, you are very likely wrong. A good cry is a good way to relieve some stress. When Fanny and I moved in together a few weeks ago, we bought a bottle of wine, determined to laugh it up, and we ended up crying for 4 hours. But guess what? We felt much better after. So put on your ugly cry face, build a fort if you need to and go at it!

Asking for help doesn't make you weak.

I am guilty of the "I don't need anyone" syndrome - I am a strong woman right? Haha. I am so glad that a few people stuck out for me during the dark times to take me out and distract me. And let me ramble for hours. The lesson I learned? You can reach out to people and they will likely be here you. Just make sure you return the favor when it's their turn (manners!).

Rebuild your routine

Since your life just went upside down like a neglected canoe, so is your routine. You're sad, you eat like crap, you sleep poorly, you can't focus... But routines are so important for our sanity, they bring a feeling of familiarity, which we lack desperately when our lives change so much at once. Slowly but surely, get back to your former routine if it made you happy or start a fresh one.

Try new experiences

Usually, we make tough decisions why family, lovers or friends because we don't feel like we can be ourselves truly. Are you starting to feel slightly more stable on your feet? Order your legs to move around and try new things! On top of being a great distraction, it will lift up your heart, help you find out who you really are and get closer to who you want to be.

There are NO freaking rules.

Related to our current cases: we are conditioned to think we have to believe a certain way after any life events. Truth is, you have to do what makes you happy. And if it doesn't feel right to others, well that's toobad for them. Don't let a chance of happiness run away from you if it's knocking at your door.

roll up your sleeves and Take the time you need to rebuild yourself. you will be happier for it in the long run. We are sending you love, are willing to share our icecream and you can call us anytime if you feel like dancing on Britney Spears from 2008.

How to start your business: putting your fears aside

As you may know Scandals, our first year of business is over and so far it has been running well. But you know what they say: it takes 3 years for a business to be successful, we have done half of it so… yay to us!

It has been a year and a half full of stress – joy – tears – laughs – fears - surprises – projects  – beauty – nudity (sometimes not wanted). You got the idea; our emotion and lives were like a roller coaster: lots of ups and some downs. Having a business is the dream of most of the people we meet and every time Juliette and I hear the same things: “you guys are so brave to go through this process”, “I would love to do it but I do not have the time or/and the money”, “How did you guys do it?

Well Mesdames et Messieurs, here is the secret, you need to think super super strongly about an idea and tada!! It’s happening. Drop the mic, end of this blog…

THE REALITY

I wish it was so simple. Unfortunately there are no magic tricks, you just have to bite the bullet (I know, so disappointing right?). Like anything in life actually, if you want something to be done, you have to make it happen. Were we scared? Oh hell yes. Did we ask ourselves a thousand questions? Totally. Did we think it wasn’t the good time to start Scandaleuse? Absolutely not!

It was our main goal and we were so ready to start this new adventure because we knew it can give us a financial freedom and a happy state of mind. You have to feel confident in your vision, you have to trust your guts and ask yourself the good questions:

Is it the fear of failing?

Lack of experience or knowledge?

Not enough time or money?

Lack of support from your love ones?

Not having a strong project?

Knowing what the problem is will help you to find a solution to move forward. You also have to stop finding excuses, the only barriers are the ones you are creating to stop yourself.

THIS IS HOW WE DO IT

The first steps are always the most difficult ones and they will make you feel overwhelmed. Educating yourself and being well organized will help you to feel more confident in your project.

Time and Money

Before starting, make sure you will have enough time and money to invest. If you want it to be your full time job, your business will become your baby and has to be a priority. You will spend countless hours of work so be ready to change your schedule and make some sacrifices. If you decide to have a part time job while building it, it is going to take way more time to be ready for its launch. The best is to focus 100% and have a good 3 months of savings on the side.

Baby Steps

• Develop an idea but make sure it is realistic and practical: If your dream is to sell homemade panties made of wood, you have to be sure clients will buy them because the primary purpose of every business is to maximize profits ($$$) for its owner. Do your own research, find out who your competitors are, analyze the market and start this goddamn business plan.
   
• Talk about your project: It is very important to share your vision with your surroundings. Talk to your family, friends and even strangers about what you have in mind, they would be very happy to give their opinion and help. You can be surprised how creative, smart and resourceful people can be.
   
• Find a badass name and a kickass logo: When you create a business, you are building a brand and you want people to be able to remember and scream your name. One more time, ask people to tell you honestly what they think about it, if it describe your project, if it is catchy or too common, if it would make them buy your service or product…
   
• Build your social media and content: You need to be everywhere, Facebook, Instagram, Linkedin, Twitter, Youtube, you name it. Your customers will be mostly online and are craving for interesting and creative contents. You will have to take pictures and make videos about your product/service several times per week if you want people to buy it.
   
• Make it legal: Just in case you had the idea of screwing with the government… well don’t. Learn what category correspond the best with your business (Corporate, Partnership or Sole Proprietorship…), register your business and potentially for HST, apply for trademark name if needed. You can also get free advice from the City Hall and Canada Revenue Agency has a program who helps new entrepreneurs with taxes. 

Being entrepreneurs is not easy but we would not go back, we love the freedom of working for ourselves and making Scandaleuse Photography an empire.

Put your fears on the side and most importantly, don’t forget to have fun!

Coffee talk - Love and cultural differences

Ahhh l'amour, between the rendez-vous and the je-ne-sais-quoi floating in the air. What more can you ask for?! Being in love is wonderful. Being in love with someone who comes from a different country is even better!

Different countries or not: relationships are work.

Yes, being in love and living with someone is a great life experience but it can also be very difficult. You have to swallow your pride here and there, (I have to work on that one!), make some compromises, put your boundaries down... In a nutshell, you have to let go.

It was too tempting! - evil laugh

Two different cultures living together

Now that we set the vibe, try to picture your relationship with someone with whom you don't share the same language. Personally, I think that's the biggest obstacle, which is pretty ironic for someone who thinks communication is the key for a successful relationship! I have been with my partner Ivan for the past 3 years and I have to say that sometimes our communication is not the best.

Well nothing to be surprised about... I am French, he is Colombian and at home we speak English, which is not our first language. So you can imagine this creates misunderstandings, frustrations and fights. And the more we argue, the worse our English gets and the less we can express ourselves correctly. Which creates?... Frustration. It is a vicious circle!

Sometimes I wish we could just yell at each other in French and Spanish, like in those romantic comedies, with a dramatic music in the background. But that's not how it works and honestly, it would be way too chaotic. 

Bad words can get worse.

The solution is quite simple: we have to be careful with the words we use (easy to say but not to apply!). I had never had to be on fleek with my vocabulary - not that I was using "paraglider" instead of "tomato" or "carpet" instead of "toilets" - but I never really cared to choose the exact words until I realized it can slightly change the meaning of your sentences.

Trust me when I say I learnt the lesson the hard way. When you speak in another language, you have a tendency to translate expressions from your mother-tongue without realizing the meaning can be quite different in another language. Believe it or not, some words can sound awful in English, but not so much in French, and vice versa.

Finding balance

(Juliette stole the keyboard)
There isn't only language difference. Habits & lifestyles are also big ones, especially when you live in your loved one's country. The good news? Getting accustomed to a different culture can actually bring out a better You.

If you know me, you likely see me as a hardass. And you're right. Well guess what? I was 10 times worse back in France. If I hadn't move to Canada, chances are I would have become a French version of The Devil Wears Prada. Dating a Canadian and living with him has taught me to chill the hell out (don't you dare laughing!). On the other end, I taught my partner to shake things up here and there in his everyday life. That's just one of many examples.
(keyboard is back with Fanny)

The double-culture treat

Leaving with someone from another country is a great way to open your mind to the world and change your way of seing things. You get VIP access to a new culture, which includes: food, music, history, fashion and a way to be even more sarcastic and joke about national clichés:

- Ivan: "French people are so weird, you guys shower with perfume. French shower is gross !"

- Me: "First, not true! Second, at least we don't sell drugs. Go ask Pablo Escobar if he had time to shower!"

Speaking of... food, this is also a big avantage (food aficionados: put your hands up!). Every time Ivan goes to Colombia or his family comes here, I always get some traditional delicacies. And that, my friends, is gold.

Long term relationships are already pretty hard and while having your partner in crime from another country could be challenging, it also comes with rewards. Such as getting the opportunity to say that yes, blue cheese and wine together as a match made in heaven.

Free the nipples

If you've been following us since the beginning you know we love nude photography (we are not boudoir photographer by mistake!). What we love even more is being able to share the gorgeous ladies we take pictures of on our social media. And sometimes, something really stupid happens: they get deleted.

Why? Well I can tell you it is not because we shoot porn or violence like some things you can randomly bump into online. No, what we like to photograph and share is something small and beautiful but extremely sexualised by our society for whatever reason: women's nipples.

Dear close-minded people

We live in a modern world where scientists are able to 3D print organs with human cells and where you can wander around the globe fairly easily. We are so advanced in many many fields and it's a pretty cool thing. Yet, some basic topics are being turned into such a big deal that it becomes absolutely ridiculous.

you can find porn, violence, blood and detailed plastic surgeries on social media and yet a little piece of flesh is still considered as the devil. 

How can female nipples be more sexualised than male ones? Don't you also know men also get pleasure when you stimulate their nipples?! So please tell me why you can allow portraits of topless men but not women?

It's not only about the nipples, it goes way deeper: It is about gender equality. and it needs to change.

People are talking a lot about it for work positions and salary, but if we want women and men to be equal, it has to start with the human body.

So here are little reminders for you: 

• Women's periods are not disgusting, it is something natural and needed. Did you know in some countries girls and women are forbidden to go to school or enter a kitchen when they have their menstruation? Ridiculous! 

• Vagina is an actual word presents in our dictionary and not a scary gnome with sharp teeth. It is time to use it instead of trying to delete it!

•  Women should not feel ashamed when breast feeding their babies in public spaces. Once again it is a natural act and it only concerns a mother and her child!

We are 7.6 billion people on Earth, of course we don't all think the same way. If you refuse to understand that mentalities need to change, or acknowledge the slightest possibility there is to open your mind, it is your right, no one can force you to. What's not right is for you to be demeaning towards those who think otherwise.

One advice, keep your energy to create a positive impact on our world instead of trying to denigrate women. 

We can change mentalities 

Fighting for a cause is always difficult, we never know where to start. Thankfully, internet is magical and can give you all of the answers you need if you take the time to do some research. If you are man, don't run away, we need your help too: the more you talk openly about a topic, the less it becomes taboo.

There is a group of fierce women who decided to take action, it's called Free The Nipple movement. They have campaigns coming soon and they are really active on social media. We have no doubt they will help to change mentalities and they need to be supported.

But if you still consider a woman like a piece of meat or you believe women should only take care of your home and give you pleasure whenever you want, then you can go sit on a cactus... Free the nipples and the woman body!

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We have an empire of confident women to build.

When you are building a business, you need to figure out the big "WHY" you are doing it. It may sound simple at first, but putting it on paper and being able to explain it clearly takes a lot more work than you'd think. Our message wasn't clear enough.

The Soul Story

If you follow us on Instagram & Facebook, you may have seen that we went to a workshop without any big expectations and it kinda shook us up. It was led by Odette Laurie, very interesting woman may we add, and she was talking about finding your soul story to explain your business. Hers was based on her painful family past and harsh moments. It made us question about ours.

We were encouraged to be strong and to not take crap from others.

By our families, who raised up right. Our parents believe we could be whoever we want to be and that we have what it takes to do so. They taught us not to give up, be creative, be kind and not be a doormat because of our gender.

We mentioned it in one of our first blog post back in the day, we have dealt with sexual harrassement. We have heard the "you shouldn't do this, you're a woman.". We have dealt with awful men grabbing us in the streets. I have personally spent an entire job interview with a man twice my age staring at my breasts the whole time, when I was 18. Or that other man that told me I must spend a lot of time on my knees as a French girl. I have heard "whore", "slut", "how much" so many times I can't even count anymore. Directed to myself, but also to others.

I remember the anger for these specific moments. What I didn't realize, is that this turned into so much more. It turned into Scandaleuse.

Don't get us wrong, yes, we are all about body-positivity like 100% of boudoir photography studios in the city. It's a given to us. But we don't want to limit ourselves to just that.

We want to make women feel free.

It is absolutely killing us that some women are still stopping themselves from doing something because it's frown-upon. It makes me so angry when I hear "I could never do that, no one would respect me/take me seriously". They will, if you make them.

I just want to give you a hug if that thought has crossed your mind before. And encourage you to change that thought by "Screw them. I want to do this and I will go for it. I don't owe sh*t to anyone" , because guess what? You don't. For real.

We want to make women feel badass.

Because being free is awesome, but not enough. We want to make YOU feel like you can conquer that freaking mountain in front of you. Because we KNOW you can. If you are already doing it, we want to encourage you to keep going until you've reached your goal. And then find a new goal because a powerful woman like you does not stop there.

We want to bring up the "good hair days"

Don't go, I'll explain: you hear/read a lot about bad hair days. And by that, I mean when someone you know woke up on the wrong side of the bed, when nothing is going well and everything sucks. We don't talk enough about the days when you get up one morning and you feel like it's gonna be a good one. You feel gorgeous, you have a great smile on, you are ready to rock your day. This is exactly the feeling we give you with our boudoir photography. Let me tell you, your inner Beyonce is about to shine!

You deserve to be confident. You have every right to express yourself by any way your wish. It's already in you whether you know it or not. We chose to express it by boudoir photography. Now that you know everything, just one more thing: We're game if you are.

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Why having two shooters is the best

It is not a secret anymore, Juliette and I have been working together forever. Thanks to all of these years, we have developed an amazing team organization and creativity. We know each other very well, we work fast and in a total harmony. If you think a photographer working alone can give you great photographs, imagine what two photographers can do..

THE SECRET: DOUBLE EVERYTHING

• STRESS-FREE ENVIRONMENT AND GOOD SENSE OF HUMOR: REPORTING FOR DUTY

Getting ready for a photo shoot can be a lot of work and more stressful than you'd think: there is a lot going on. It is important for us to add great vibes and positivity during this special day of yours. Shooting as a team allows us to feel more relaxed and work more efficiently so you don't feel rushed and you still get everything covered. We also coach you, guide you and help you style your outfits. Our photo shoots are not "hello, clac clac, done", they are a full experience. We keep it professional but in a relaxed and friendly atmosphere..

• CREATIVITY AT ITS PEAK

When we work as a duo, we tend to be even more creative. We get a chance to use more props or do more complex lighting. Having two sets of eyes and brains also gives you a great variety in your final selection since you have not one but two creative spirits with you.

• Fast editing:

After your session, it is time for us to edit those awesome photographs of yours! The way we usually work is by doing a rough selection together and applying a soft edit. Once you chose your photographs, we split the editing by giving each other half of the photos selected. This means that our editing time is twice as less and thus, you get your photos a lot faster! Win-win for everyone!

• MORE PHOTOGRAPHS

More photographers means more pictures. You are maybe thinking right now that you do not need too many photographs but trust us, in 30 years from now you would love to remember and share with your partner every single details of your photo session, from how confident you were that day to the sexy lingerie you were wearing. Giving you quality is truly important for us but if we can also give you quantity on top of that, it is even better.

• EXTRA ATTENTION ON EVERYTHING YOU'VE WORKED HARD ON.

It's very likely that you are spending a lot of time in every single details of your photo shoot: taking time to pack up your bag with a lot of gorgeous outfits, hiring a professional for your makeup or becoming a ninja so your partner will not know the surprise you are planning for her/him. Might as well keep some good memories of it. By having two photographers, you will get everything captured the same way you planned everything: with extra care. There is also nothing better than a touch of french accent, two brains and four eyes to give you gorgeous photographs.

• BETTER SAFE THAN SORRY: BACK-UP

This is a little but very important detail that people don't think about (because you already have so many tings to take care off and this one should not be a stress factor). It is your photographer's job to make sure that every possible problem on his/her side will be covered: we are talking here of sickness, accident, car damage or any problem related to photography gear. Unfortunately, emergencies happened and working with two photographers decrease the risk of, for example , losing half of your photographs because something was wrong with the cards or because the camera got damaged. When we work as a duo, we double our photography gear and cards for extra-safety.

“As artists, we always need to create.
As photographers offering a service, we want to make you happy and make you feel like a queen or king.
As boudoir photographers, we want you to leave the shoot feeling like you’ve channeled your inner Beyonce and so for the rest of your life so you can keep kicking butts and being proud of yourself.”

 That's what Scandaleuse is about.

Work for me but for free - meet the artists

Sometimes I dream that I can take pictures of people for free everyday. Just for the beauty of helping them express their sexyness. All they have to do is take their clothes off and together, we create beauty and sensuality (I am still talking about boudoir photography - oh you naughty minds!)

But then reality comes back and reminds me it’s not possible yet.

A few weeks ago, the business women in us were explaining why we can’t work for free.

Today, it's time for the sequel and we decided to let our artistic side speaks.

Once upon a time…

In the wonderful world of Edith Piaf, the baguette and delicious cheese, two young ladies named Juliette & Fanny signed up in a photography school located on the north side of Paris in the dark forest who was full of trolls, gremlins and angry dragons. Fortunately, Juliette and Fanny surrounded themselves with lovely people who became good friends and all together they were able to study in a joyous and relaxed atmosphere (with some drama like in every fairy tales). For 3 years, they used their time and some gold coins to pay for their education and developed their creativity, knowledge and sense of humor.

It was time to leave the castle…

Our two lovely companions always wanted to discover the world and become international photographers. So they decided to get on board the Hogwarts Express with a first stop in London and a few other ones such as Canada, Colombia, Costa Rica, Rome, Prague...

Hand in hand they worked as photographers, they built their skills with different photography studios, had a good amount of mentors and worked on many projects and photoshoots to become better and better at their craft.

But something was missing, in their heart Fanny and Juliette were aiming for freedom. They knew they were the only ones who can make things change so they used their magic wands (and their brains) to create Scandaleuse Photography boudoir & weddings and finally made one of their dreams come true.

And they lived happily ever after...

There are a lot of pages to add to their story and trust me, getting married and having a lot of children is not the happy ending here.

It is all of these years of travel, people we have met and the time we invested in our profession that makes us the professionals we are today. You are not paying only for a photoshoot but investing for great quality, creativity, knowledge and the security of working with two serious ladies who can give you the photographs you are dreaming of.

Boudoir photography puts our vulnerability down and taking your clothes off in front of strangers can be a difficult exercise. Going with a photographer you trust and can reveal your personality to is a must. And this is what we have now been working on for over 8 years.

With love,

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How I Met My Business Partner - Episode 2

Episode 2 : From London to Toronto

In case you missed it, you can catch up on how two French girls ended up in London at the first place here. Grab a cookie, get comfy, here is the second episode of your Scandals-en-chef's story.

London, Wood Green, October 2012.

Our suitcases are heavy, so is the rain, but we don't care. We found a house. It looks cozy (turns out it wasn't), the rent is fairly cheap (for London), the landlord seems friendly (turns out she wasn't either) and the rooms were just re-painted (that was true. Our first night with the smell of the paint is a delirious and hilarious blur. Don't do drugs kids.)

First step was getting a job and quick. Knowing that our English was not that great, our first bet was to apply in bars & restaurants, hoping to get something fast. That's exactly what happened: we looked for 2 or 3 weeks before finding jobs as a barmaid and waitress. This is when the 17-hour shifts and the going home at 2 am started. I am not going to lie, little Scandals, it wasn't easy. But we were okay. We made enough money to pay for our basic needs. We didn't need much and we had each other. Our main activities were cooking, watching movies snuggled in one of the bedrooms (we didn't have heat for the longest time ever, told you it wasn't that cozy), and going window-shopping because with our wages, going real-shopping was out of the question. (They don't tip in the UK, guys!)

This is when you need to know one of the key element to our story: a 5"7 Canadian guy swept me off my feet and gave me the idea to start the paperwork and pack my bags to go over the Atlantic. After giving a lot of tears, time and dollars to the Canadian government, my paperwork went through and 6 months after our British arrival, I was about to leave again.

This situation was quite a bit of a pickle. See, we were kind of used to live together Fanny and I and we even started a wife/wife relationship there (our common shopping cart can be a witness of that).

Thinking of giving it up wasn't easy so Fanny decided… not to.

A blurry photo from when she took me to the airport in London

Fanny's second day in Toronto

Toronto, Yonge & Eglinton, February 2013

I will always remember when she told me "you know what, I'll come too". She applied for a working holiday visa, which she got a few days before I left, in February 2013. I landed in the Torontonian winter (during that ice storm we had back then, remember?) and I am not gonna lie, the months before Fanny's arrival were not a lot of fun. Getting accustomed to a new country, a new culture, a new job, while being away from my entire family was tough. Everything seemed just... so far. It was also the first time I was dealing with a time difference between my loved ones.

The minute Fanny landed in June 2013, everything felt like a little more like home. It was even better when she found a place literally across the street from mine. We were ready to conquer Toronto, one glass of wine at the time.

We have now been living for almost 5 years in Toronto, but trust me, it wasn't all pink and unicorns. But that will be the next episode…

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Let's talk about 2017

Well Scandals, we are living the last few weeks of 2017. We don't know about you, but this year was full of adventures for us (as I am currently writing this blog post in Prague, aka my big latest adventure of the year in 2017).

I absolutely love reading other people's feedback on their year and for the first time ever, Scandaleuse is doing it too.

Firstly, we opened.

Well yeah, it's kinda of the biggest one this year: we gathered our courage and opened Scandaleuse in April 2017. Fanny got her immigration paperwork done, I quit my full-time job and, from the Toronto Public Library, the website went live for the first time. A dream we worked so hard on finally came true. We collaborated with three awesome talents we can't thank enough: our illustrator Deanna Colosimo, our videographer James at Prcptn and our animator Jonathan Delgado.

We have successfully built amazing projects

Show Us Your Tats was our first photography project for tattooed people, in which we met, photographed & interviewed wonderful people. Thank you Mike, Betty, Liana, Kyle and Amber for getting on board.

We then worked on The Boudoir Circus with Jamie Holmes with 13 wonderful ladies who blew us away with their aerial abilities. We cannot wait to have another one in 2018!

The first Boudoir Bash was born and sold out in a matter of weeks, with 5 amazing women we are very thankful we met. We have another Boudoir Bash on January 20th and we are hoping for an even better turn out! (by the way, we have 4 spots left, contact us if you want one!)

We had a fantastic Model Call with two gorgeous women to immortalize a fantastic location in Hamilton at The 45 Wellington Project.

We spoke in public for the first time ever

Fanny and I stood in front of a group of strangers to talk about self confidence & boudoir photography, first at the Oasis and then at Good For Her. It was rocky, we stuttered, laughed, felt awkward and waaaaay out of our comfort zone but what an incredible experience that was! It made us grow in confidence 3000 faster than usual.

We opened to weddings

After working on so many weddings for other people, we opened our own wedding division with Scandaleuse! We now have a few amazing couples for 2018 and we can't wait to get more! (Pssst, our wedding instagram is here. Just saying!)

We got published

Again in Hamilton, with a team that took months to gather, we got published for a half lingerie, half bridal shoot in the mud by a waterfall!

We traveled to cities we've always wanted to see, and that for an entire month.

Airplanes hopping, walking so many kilometers we can even count, tried to speak 4 different languages, and are now back home with our loved ones in France. 

We saw 54 pairs of butts and counting, did five shoots around the world in Costa Rica, Lisbon, Rome, Prague, Bordeaux (and Paris will be the first 2018 shoot!), posted 257 times on Instagram (double that on Facebook) and wrote 37 blog posts.

And for that, we thank YOU. (And you. And youuuuuu. Love Actually reference.)

To more shoots, more boobs and butts and weddings!

What's your biggest accomplishment in 2017? We want to know everything. Sending you a lot of love for these last few weeks this year. Take care.

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Work for me but for free - Part 1

We all love to get things for free, right? Such a great feeling! And with Juliette, we hope (in a close future) we will have enough income to be able to accept no-budget projects, but in the meantime we do need to make a living out of photography.

Photography services can look pricey, especially when you are not aware of the amount of work and expenses involved in taking a simple picture. While we love when our clients don’t try to lower our rates, we can also understand when they do. Let us explain:

Photography gear is our biggest investment.

Camera, lenses and studio lights all together can cost the same price as a car:

Cameras = $3000 to $5000
Lense= $600 to $2000
External flash= $600 to $1000
Studio lights= $2000

This is just an average, you can find even more expensive material such as Hasselblad cameras who can be around $15000 (oh the ultimate goal!). You can also add more money for all of the other little accessories such as hard drives, memory cards, filters, tripods, extra batteries…

On top of this, you need to include the repair cost. I fixed my camera and two lenses 6 months ago and the total cost was over $1500.

Don't forget the computer stuff.

Computers are a very important investment for photographers. Except the photoshoot itself, everything happens digitally nowadays: editing, pictures delivery, payment and even customer service. Unfortunately you cannot be a professional photographer without a computer anymore. In order to provide a wonderful and artistic work, we have to invest in great equipment. Since Juliette and I travel a lot (Hello from Rome & Paris!), we needed to invest in a light laptop and each of us paid around $1300.

Let’s not forget about internet. It's a must in our industry and it needs to be fast, so boom, more $$$!

We have to get around.

As photographers, we love to shoot in different places so we need an easy way to travel. When we do not have to carry a lot of equipment and we are not going far, we use public transportation, otherwise we drive. It is more expenses to add on our side: cost of the car, gas, repairs, insurance + the time we spend on the road.

Where we shoot also needs $$$.

As you may already know, a part of our boudoir experience is to shoot in beautiful lofts in Toronto and GTA and we do not rend those places for free. The cost for those type of location can be expensive for us: $100/200 per hour. The price to pay to offer the variety and the quality we do.

Let's not forget...

There is a very simple fact that applies to any person who work for her/himself: if you don’t work you are not paid! Which means, we can’t afford to be sick or take a day off for example. We both work every single day because every little actions we make leads to find new customers and develop our businesses (did you know we do weddings too?), especially since we opened less than a year ago. This hard work also has a cost we need to cover in our pricing.

We are sparing you the taxes and insurance involved in this whole bill too, but yep, there are here too.

This is only the material side of our investment, see you in January for the creative one. Yes our awesomeness has a price too (big smiley face).

With Love.

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Being best friend with another photographer

As you may know Juliette and I met in photography school in Paris in 2009 and we've never left each other since. And we now have two businesses together. Our friendship is strong and based on communication and trust. She is the cheese on my pasta and I am the sugar in her coffee… We complete each other.

Surprisingly, being both photographers has never been an issue in our friendship. Probably because we have rules that were set up naturally and we never break them.

2014 baby!

Here are the secrets for a healthy relationship with people you love and who are in the same field as you are:

Don’t sell your service to your friend’s contact

I will say this is the most important rule we have. Juliette and I have some friends in common but also our own ones and we never consider them as potential clients, without each other's approval.

A year ago one of Juliette’s friend contacted me to ask if I could give him a quote for portrait photography to promote his new music band. My ego was at a top level and it was of course a great opportunity to make money and develop my portfolio. But I would have never accepted it without talking to Juliette about it and see if she is ok with that, regarding the fact that he was a friend of hers. Of course she didn’t mind because as an artist you have to understand that sometimes people would prefer to go with another style than yours.

Think of your friend for a job you can’t do

If a client requires your services but for some reasons you are not available, always think about your friend. With Juliette we know each other professionalism & talent, and if one of us can’t take a photography job, we always ask the other if she can take it, even if we know plenty of other photographers.

We also try to give each other work by selling each other as a second shooter or assistant on different photoshoots.

Avoid jealousy to avoid competition

Sometime when I talk about my relationship with Juliette it seems to be all pink, happy and easy but we are both human and like every human, we can have negative emotions coming up to the surface. Truth is: it can be difficult to stay out the competition state of mind wehn your friend does the same job as you. Don’t let bitterness develops: don’t be jealous of your friend’ success, instead be happy and learn from it. Work on your own goals and if you are missing some knowledge on a topic to go further, don’t feel ashamed or stupid to ask people around you for some help.

If you let frustration growing in you, it will destroy everything in your life, starting with your relationship with others.

Being friend with another photographer is also lots of fun and the opportunity to create and work together on different shoots. We know how being a photographer can be tough sometimes, so we support each other and can complain about the same difficulties (we know that you know french people love to complain!)

We have been close friends for the past 8 years and of course having lots in common helps a lot, but there are no magical tricks. Like everything else if you want it to be successful, you need to work hard. Juliette and I have spent a lot of time together, we are there for each other even in the worst moments, we talked about everything, even when it's bad.

Now go hug your friends and built a stronger relationship with them!

Love,

Fanny & Juliette

Boudoir Bash or meeting 5 wonderful human beings

We put together our first Boudoir Bash: 5 women, 5 sessions for one day only. A boudoir marathon. And a pretty successful one. We had the perfect combo between a gorgeous place and five amazing personalities.

To be completely honest, when we first started Scandaleuse, we weren't sure about booking multiple shoots a day. Since we are all about creating individual experiences, we were a little worried that it would lose authenticity and creativity. We first thought "how can you be 500% creative after 5 hours in the same space?"

Then, we had a little contest on our instagram and it made us realise that so many women who couldn't afford a VIP session were dying to try it still. And we had an opportunity to shoot in a very special location. Everything started getting together. It kinda looked like a sign so we decided to follow it. I am glad we did.

One house.

Before talking about the wonderful models, we need to talk about the location. We got extremely lucky to have access to a full house, recently renovated with modern touches and full of variety. We could never thank the owners enough. Thanks to them, our concern of potentially lose creativity during the process faded.

Two brains.

The fact that there are two of us made the entire day a lot easier. I took one shoot, Fanny took the other one, which gave us a chance to "recharge" between two people. We were also able to shoot the video below simultaneously while one of us was shooting.

Five models.

Within a few weeks, all the spots were taken. We knew practically nothing about our models. For our regular sessions, we always take our clients for a coffee to discuss location and vision, but in this case, since the location was set, we were ready to roll after sending them a few tips & tricks. Frankly, we expected our girls to bring similar outfits from one another. We were pleasantly surprised by the thoughts the girls put into their props and outfits.

We saw beautiful nightgowns, vintage bras, sophisticated bodysuits, gigantic feathers, delicate robes and so much more. Each of them have a very distinct personality which made the whole process even nicer. And the standard was already pretty high!

A challenge for all of us.

Usually, the challenge during a boudoir session is stronger towards the model, since she/he is likely the one not being familiar with it. Don't get me wrong, we do challenge ourselves by thinking outside the box for every shoot, but let's face it, the one getting naked is taking on a bigger step. This time however, we were seriously on the line too. Boudoir Bash forced us to adapt ourselves quickly and think 4 or 5 steps ahead so each of the girls would get something special. I am happy to say that the mission was accomplished.

Boudoir Bash gave us a chance to open our doors to models we wouldn't have necessarily met otherwise. It broadened our horizon and challenged us. I do believe that this little adventure made us better photographers and we are seriously considering doing it again. We are always so proud of each of our Scandals who have reached out to us to try this new experience.