Categories: Natural

Meet the Photography Duo Who Love Taking Pictures of Natural Hair

We catch up with Regis and Kahran Bethencourt – the husband and wife team behind Creative Soul Photography

For those of us who don’t know you, who are the people behind CreativeSoul Photography?
Regis and Kahran Bethencourt are a husband and wife duo and the imaginative forces behind Creative Soul Photography.

Where are you based?
We are based in Atlanta, Georgia but travel worldwide.

Did you always want to be photographers?
Not at all. We both started out in the marketing and design world and fell in love with photography while dating cross-country long distance. We decided to start CreativeSoul Photography together while Reg was in school studying photography.

What sort of services do you offer?
We like to consider ourselves a one-stop shop for child and lifestyle photography. We offer anything from photography to creative concept planning and execution, prop/set design and videography services.

You have a real eye for colour and backgrounds. How do you choose them?
One of our favourite things to do is to find new locations. That’s one of the reasons why we love traveling so much. We love being able to incorporate colour, cool architecture and any location that helps us to tell our story.

What’s your favourite location?
We’ve been to a few cool locations but I’d have to say it would be Burano, Italy. We absolutely LOVE colour so an entire colourful town definitely speaks to our creative souls.

What makes a great photograph?
Simply being able to feel something from a photo. Whether you walk away happy, sad or intrigued by the person’s story, we like photos that are memorable and leave you with some type of emotion.

Hardest thing you’ve ever had to photograph?
I’d have to say our editorial shoot at Salvation Mountain in California. It was over 115 degrees in the middle of a hot desert and the girls were wearing winter coats! We had to get the girls ready underneath the mountain in a little cave area where my hairstylist set up her station. Through it all, the girls were all little professionals and we were able to capture some amazing shots at this beautiful mountain.

Your family portraits aren’t the typical cheesy studio shots, how do you get everyone looking so cool?
We are lucky in that most of our clients come to us because they are not looking for the cheesy studio shots so it gives us the freedom to suggest cool locations and concepts. During the shoot we try to make it feel more like a play date than meeting. We are usually talking and joking so that it doesn’t feel like an actual shoot.

Which famous family you would like to photograph?
I would love to capture Erykah Badu and her beautiful family. I love everything about her style, so I know we could pull off a cool/fashionable shoot for her family.

Your portfolio includes a lot of naturals [hair]. Is this a deliberate attempt to redress the balance of only seeing Eurocentric beauty?
Definitely. When we first started photographing child models/actors we would see the kids photo before with beautiful natural hair, then when they would come into the studio they would straighten it because they thought that they needed to do that to get into the industry. A few years ago, we decided to take on a personal project showcasing kids with natural hair to standardize the notion of kids rocking their own natural curls. These photos definitely propelled our business to the next level and allowed us to create a signature style of our own.

What are your three best tips to taking a good photograph?
Great lighting, sharpness, and great composition are the key to taking a good photograph.

Love the AfroPortrait series? How did that come about?
We love the uniqueness of afro hair and how you are able to create so many different styles. We wanted to create a series of AfroPortraits with kids to show off the versatility of natural hair. We’ve recently turned some of those portraits into artwork that we will sell in our new online store opening March of 2017.

Are children difficult to photograph?
We are lucky in that we mostly work with kids who are in the industry so they (usually) love being in front of the camera. We’ve found that when things become a bit difficult bribery always works. J Skittles are our secret weapon.

Is there such a thing as not being photogenic?
As a photographer it is our duty to bring out the best in you no matter what. When we are photographing a new subject we will typically study their features so that we can understand which features to highlight to bring out the best capture of our subject.

I want you guys to take my photograph, but I’m based in the UK, do you travel?
Of course! We are missing the UK and would love to travel back there soon! We are always open to travel worldwide.