HI, I'm Mandy meadows, and I HAVE BEEN A PROFESSIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER FOR twenty YEARS.
I’m the lady who tells you what to do with your hands and makes you smile without saying cheese. I get it, it's confronting having your photograph taken, so I understand how exposing it can be. However it can also be fun, self affirming, exhilarating and really worth it. I see you and I help you relax into a shoot, so you love the images we create.
Photographs are your memories; they prompt a feeling, a reaction, a warm lovely glow and that's completely my jam. The phrase “Oh that a nice one” is ok, but NICE - NICE is a biscuit! I want you to coo, to laugh, to cry and to giggle. I want A deep inhalation of breath and then silence - just like they do at the reveal on the Repair Shop.
PASSIONATE PEOPLE ARE MY FAVOURITE PEOPLE AND TAKING INCREDIBLE SHOTS OF THEM IS MY THING.
Wow! The legend that is Mandy Meadows! (That is one of my Google reviews - I'm not just being flash)
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Yes I was born and grew up in west london. My grandmother lived in a little Riverside cottage in Wootton Bridge on the beautiful southern coast of the UK, the Isle of Wight. I have many visceral memories of holidays on the Island. The first day walking down Union Street in Ryde to the toy shop. Sandy picnics on Seagrove Bay and soggy walks in Mottistone. I love these days. My walls are adorned with framed prints of the summer's long past, with people that have passed too. This is why I love what I do so much. I moved away from the smoke of the big city with my husband and children, in the early 2000’s. Sun, sea and freedom called and we lapped it up. Making more memories for my walls to host.
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No you haven't missed read that, I was an international synchronised swimmer. When my school mates were being cool hanging out, I was ‘hanging’ normally upside down in a swimming pool with 12 other swimmers, practicing routines, holding my breath a lot and training really really hard. Up to 30 hours a week plus school/work - it was intense, but fun. Think of me as a sequined clad, endlessly smiling, perfectly poised swan. Believe me it was all happening under the water!
So swimming led me into working in fitness where I met my husband Roy, we had 3 children and I loved photographing them. We moved to the Island as we wanted the children to have a freer life than London could offer. I had had a keen interest in photography and started a little studio in my garage. I was repeatedly asked to photograph weddings - so I gave it a go and loved it.
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So now you find a person who knows that the hokey cokey really IS what it's all about. Life isn't linear, it’s the people you share it with and how you show them how much you care. I make sure I find time for some reiki or being with my animals. Having a coffee at my favorite establishment and sharing a laugh with Roy. Because these things keep me grounded and aware of the finer moments this life of ours offers us. I want to capture it all - and I do.
where to find me when i’m not behind the lens
1st and last thing in the day I will be at the yard with my horses or walking the dogs. Being outside is pure therapy and believe me no one bothers you if you're mucking out a stinking stable!
If it’s lunch time and I'm not working I will be having a lovely meal with my rock, my best friend and true soul mate, my husband Roy. I think our marriage is the reason why photographing weddings and families is so important to me. It's everything to me - he is everything to me - my children and my parents are my world. I'm so lucky. And I want you to feel the same.
three things that make me truly unique
01
I survived both an earthquake while visiting Egypt and an IRA bomb in Ealing, London. Two completely unexpected life experiences that I somehow walked away from, and they definitely left me with some wild stories to tell and a deep appreciation for calm days!
02
I’ve appeared on The Big Breakfast, Radio 5 Live, an over-50s life insurance advert, a few music videos, and several photo shoots. Being a synchronised swimmer in London also meant performing in hotel lobbies, at celebrity parties, and on plenty of very strange TV shows and films over the years.
03
I can still do the splits on both legs and I know EVERY word to the film Grease. I’m talking full performances, hand actions and all — "Tell me about it, stud." I may or may not still dream of joining Rydell High if they ever do a reunion.
Ready to book?
I can’t wait to chat and plan and work and have the best time together! The next step is up to you! Pop over to the contact page; I know we’ll get along swimmingly.