Did you know (why would you!) that it has been almost 18 years to the day that I decided to set up my business in France as a photographer?
It has been almost 20 years since I have lived here. When I say it out loud, I find it hard to believe. It has been almost 18 years since I have known Mike, my husband. I became a stepmother to a 9 and an 11-year-old before I became a mother to my own daughter, who is nearly 14, and my stepchildren are now 26 and 28.
It has been about 22 years since I came back from a workshop in India with David Bathgate and decided that I wanted to become a photographer. I quit everything to follow my dream. I then decided to move to another country where I didn’t speak the language and follow that dream.
When I turned 50 last year, I celebrated. Not only because it’s a great age, but because I look back at all that I have achieved and all that I would like to achieve with pride. What’s more, I have achieved this on my own with a good network of support beside me.
I am going to say something that may shock people. I had no real desire to live in Provence. It wasn’t on my radar. I had been working with a photographer who happened to work for the World of Interiors, hence why I ended up working in Interiors.
My mother was living in Provence at the time, and this photographer said you should go and live with your mum for a while because: “You can always sell an article from Provence.”
So off I went. I had no desire to live in the UK. I didn’t know where I wanted to be. I still have no desire to live in the UK, 20 years later. I arrived as a barely 30-something in the South of France to try and make it as a photographer.
I went up to Paris and saw all the French magazines, barely understanding if they liked my work or not. I went up again 9 months later and sold 4 articles in a day. It started from there.
One of my dreams was to get into the World of Interiors magazine. I was determined to get into it. I’ll talk about magazines at a later time but you need to persevere and not only that you need to understand that in this industry you will get a NO 90% of the time but when you do sell, especially to a magazine like this, it’s honestly the best feeling ever. Not only did I get a 12 page article I got the front cover. It was ‘ a story from Provence’!
I look back at it now and think I must have been mad, but the one thing I have never been afraid of is just going for it. Would I have changed anything? No, probably not. Did I know what I was doing? Absolutely not!
So if I can offer any advice, it is to just go for it. You can’t wait for things to happen; sometimes you just have to grab the bull by its horns. It might not work out, but it might - nothing is ever a failure, it’s a learning experience.
Joanna x
Introducing Contributor, Joanna Maclennan:
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Lovely story, Joanna! And thank you for sharing your "making France my home" experience with us all.
Warm regards
Judy
I remember when I first moved here, at about the same age as you, being amazed when I met expats who told me they had lived here for twenty years. I somehow couldn't get my head around it. It's great that you're so happy with your choice.