For the last 20 years, Hannelie and Braam Swanepoel have been working as a photography duo, shooting weddings, families, babies, sports, nature, wildlife and landscapes—you name it, they've shot it.
In fact, these days the Jasperites are delving into a new passion: artistic boudoir photography. It's an niche they fell into after finding themselves looking for something new—a new perspective, a new muse—and it's one that's fuelled their creativity ever since.
“Every photographer goes through different stages,” said Hannelie. “Always my forte was portraiture. Braam's was more action.
“We feel this is a niche. All men and women, we all grow older and this is a way to embrace your youth.
“It's an amazing experience for the women,” said Hannelie. “If they see themselves on the portrait they think, 'wow, I can look beautiful. I can look sexy.'”
The Swanepoels will put a selection of their nude and boudoir portraits on display at the Jasper-Yellowhead Museum and Archives this weekend.
Hannelie joked that the show is a way of testing the waters to see how Jasperites will react.
“People might like it, they might not like it,” said Braam. “But we're just showing that everybody's beautiful.
“We just want to show people our work and pique their interest and see if people want to explore it.”
To pique that interest, along with a few dozen photos on the walls, the Swanepoels will also present a handful of slideshows, including one depicting the bodies of local Jasperites.
“One video that we're going to show is all models, all people, that we've photographed, who live in Jasper,” said Braam.
But there's a catch: the images will only be of their bodies—faces won't be shown.
“So nobody will know who it is,” said Braam with a smirk.
The slideshows will be shown at 3 p.m. and 7 p.m.
The community is invited to the museum to see the show Saturday, Nov. 22. The exhibition is open from 10 a.m. until 10 p.m.
To get a taste of Braam and Hannelie's work, visit www.braamliephotography.com.
Nicole Veerman
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