If a client doesn’t like their photos, it’s because the photographer didn’t succeed in showcasing a person’s beauty, contends Maryam Thompson, the owner of a North Liberty photography business. “Many people, especially women, when they come to my studio all complain that they don’t like the way they look in their pictures, no matter their […]
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If a client doesn’t like their photos, it’s because the photographer didn’t succeed in showcasing a person’s beauty, contends Maryam Thompson, the owner of a North Liberty photography business.
“Many people, especially women, when they come to my studio all complain that they don’t like the way they look in their pictures, no matter their ethnicity, age or any demographic,” Ms. Thompson said. “I was thinking this is something I really need to address.”
Her solution was to start the 40 Over 40 project, where she celebrates the inner beauty of 40 women over the age of 40 through her photography, in a way that she felt only she could.
“Over the years I was building my photography business, I took so many workshops, conferences and mentorship [opportunities], and I realized that many professional photographers are very technical,” she explained. “They are very good with lighting, composition and so many things, but they don’t know how to connect with clients and how to pose them in a way that they look their best.”
“Posing is a very subjective aspect of photography, because there are really unlimited ways that you can shape and contour a human body to create interesting images,” she added. “But there are some universal rules and techniques that, if we apply them to any kind of body shape, you can create very pleasing images. I feel my moral duty as a professional photographer is to show everybody the best version of themselves.”
Ms. Thompson earned her undergraduate and masters degree in biology from the University of Isfahan in Iran and her Ph.D. in food science and biotechnology in Malaysia from University Putra Malaysia. She came to Iowa in 2000 to work as a medical researcher, but it wasn’t until the birth of her son in 2003 that she decided she needed to do something else to “feed her creative soul.”
Always enjoying photography courses she had taken from her university days, she began taking on general photography clients. Despite a limited background in business, her company grew through word-of-mouth buzz.
These days, her photo shoot schedule for one client is designed to create the best, most comfortable experience for someone who may be nervous.
She starts each meeting with her client by asking a series of questions, hoping to uncover the customer’s inner wishes for how they hope the photo shoot will unfold. After several hours of consultation, Ms. Thompson orders outfits or costumes that will be needed.
On the day of the photo shoot, she takes the pressure off the client by having a professional makeup artist handle the person’s wardrobe and appearance. After creating vision boards with the client, setting the studio for the perfect background and lighting environment, taking photos and making minor touch-ups once the shoot is complete, the whole process for one client can take up to 20 hours.
“I want to show them that if they don’t like their picture, it doesn’t mean they aren’t photogenic,” she said. “It means they have never been photographed properly and I can give them something they can cherish for themselves. They can pass these photos down in their families for hundreds of years. It can be part of their family heirloom.”
She doesn’t shy away from photo shoots with men, and she will also take traditional headshot portrait photos for business owners and authors, but she has learned that creative endeavors along the lines of her 40 Over 40 compilations are her favorite passion projects.
“I had no idea where this project would take me,” she said. “But it took off and it is one of the most exciting things I have done in my business career.”
