LARA: Bel Ange - In Loving Memory of Kienna

As you all know by now I have been working on Project Bel Ange for a couple of months with Gillian Gamble. Recently we went to meet the printers to talk about prices, how much the calendar is going to cost to make and the layout of the calendar etc. It was great to see all the pieces finally coming together, to talk about all our hard work in the past few months coming together to make the end product. We only have a couple more shoots to do now until the calendar is finished and ready to send off to the printers. The support we have had has been just so amazing and everyone involved will be receiving a really big thank you from myself.

When my baby niece Kienna passed away on the 9th of May 2011, the devastation was indescribable, there is just no words that can describe losing such a beautiful and healthy baby that we all thought would go on to live happy days with us like her big sister. But the love we all felt for Kienna and the way in which she taught us how precious life is, made me want to turn the grief into action.

I have always been fascinated with photography and the fact that it freezes a moment in time, A moment in time that you can look at forever. When Kienna died, we all wished that we could have frozen the time that we had her here with us, we took lots of photos because we knew that it would be all we had left to look at her beautiful face and remember her by. So when thinking about what I could do to turn our grief into action, I knew I wanted it to be something to do with beautiful photographs, and as this is my line of work I knew I could make it happen with the many people I know in the Industry. This is when I came up with the idea of a Charity Calendar Project with an Angel Theme, and from there Project Bel Ange commenced.

When I realised that I could turn sadness into action with this Project I got to work straight away and threw myself into creating this calendar with the help of Gillian Gamble. I have styled all the shoots for the calendar on my own and some with the help of Gillian, I have enjoyed giving little girls who have never modelled before, the chance to get some beautiful photographs of them taken, to freeze that moment in their childhood, to look back at them and remember their beauty while remembering Baby Kienna also. Most of the models I have used in the Calendar were affected by the death of Baby Kienna and would have been in Kienna's life today, which makes the calendar all the more special. The other models in the calendar are girls who I have met in the industry who are just so genuine and lovely and that is why I have chosen them to be a part of the calendar.

I will be keeping everyone regularly updated with the goings on of the calendar, how we are getting on with it and what stage its at. When the calendar is available to buy I will let you all know.
All proceeds go to SANDS, the Stillbirth And Neonatal Death charity.