Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
No one was more surprised than Brigitte Duquesnoy of Hawes when her charity calendar raised £450 to be shared between the Great North Air Ambulance and Breast Cancer Research.
When Brigitte and I set out for Kirkby Stephen in July last year neither of us knew what to expect when we reached the Picture House Portraits studio.
‘I wanted some photographs for my family. It’s my grandmothers 85th birthday at Christmas and she loves having photos of her grandkids and great grandkids,’ she said later. ‘I have never found myself photogenic and I thought a professional photographer would see me in a different light.’
Brigitte and I have been friends since she came to me as an au pair over 20 years ago. The first thing she said to me and my young son, Eddie, was: ‘I don’t like children, I can’t cook and I can’t drive!’
Not the best start, but we all became good friends very quickly and the arrangement worked very well. She returned to Belgium about a year later and then decided she preferred Wensleydale so she came back as our lodger, learnt to drive and found work locally. She joined the Wensleydale Creamery 18 years ago, met Kevin Fothergill, and so moved to Hawes.
I was looking forward to the lovely drive to the studio in Kirkby Stephen but both of us were nervous. Brigitte had seen the studio after an appointment at a holistic centre there.
She told me: ‘I went to the bakery to buy some cakes and I noticed its Art Deco shop front. I really like retro and vintage. Instead of doing something modern I wanted something quirky, something different.
‘I asked you to come with me to help choose costumes. I’ve never been into dresses before. It was quite daunting. At my age (she was then 44) I never expected to do such things. I hate posing.’
She found it even more daunting when she found that the studio was holding an open day and she would have an audience. But that audience included two experienced models, Kerry Delia and Emma Higginson, and one of them set to work on transforming Brigitte into a quite stunning 1920s lady. Getting her to relax in front of the camera took a bit longer.
It was fascinating to watch the transformation thanks to the encouragement of the photographer, Andrew Fowler, and the two models. The studio had an array of costumes and Brigitte moved on from the 1920s through to the 1950s.
‘When I saw the results it was such a morale booster. It was quite an eye-opener. It brought me a lot of confidence. I would advise it for anybody because he did a very good job,’ she said.
She was so encouraged that she decided to enter a competition for a free photo shoot with Andrew and, to her amazement, was the winner.This time Kevin accompanied her for what became a truly memorable occasion which provided most of the photos for her charity calendar.
‘The photographs were just for fun – for family and friends,’ she said. But then she discussed with Kevin the possibility of creating a charity calendar.
For many years she has been involved with fundraising for charities: helping with the garden parties organised by Pauline and Bill Hasted of Mallerstang to raise money for the Great North Air Ambulance; and then baking cakes for events at the Creamery during the annual Breast Cancer Awareness month. (She is now an excellent cook.)
So they contacted Simon Iveson of Pennine Print. ‘Without Simon we would not have been able to raise as much – he charged us as little as possible,’ she commented.
Andrew designed the A5 size calendar free of charge and all the profits have gone to the charities.
Once they had a preview copy pre-orders were taken by Carol Waggett at the Creamery so that there would be no surplus stock. By Christmas they had 86 orders, and afterwards the number went up to 102.
‘I never thought I would get 100 but it’s quite funny to see me in that kind of attire. That’s probably why people have bought it – it was funny and it was like something nobody expected me to do.’
She took a set of photos to her family in Belgium at Christmas and even her grandmother liked the calendar. ‘She was delighted. She could not believe that I dared to do such things because she knew I never liked my photo taken.
‘I never thought we would raise as much. I want to thank everyone who supported us,’ Brigitte said.
Now people are asking if she will make another calendar for next year. She is not sure that even for charity she will be brave enough to do it again.