Amoré Roux, the founder of Amoré Creative, shares her journey of rediscovering her passion for photography after years of overlooking it. She talks about how her Women’s Empowerment Experience was born and what it entails. Amoré also offers advice to aspiring photographers, encouraging them to stay true to their unique voice and never give up, and finally, she shares her daily mantra and sources of inspiration.
Read on for a truly inspiring interview with a powerhouse of a woman.
Who is Amoré Roux of Amoré Creative and how did you get into photography?
I got into photography back in primary school. As soon as reusable cameras came out, I had one and was snapping away at any event or camping trip that I went on. This continued through high school with my first digital camera and if you had Facebook through 2006 – 2009 you would have been tagged exponentially by me after every weekend endeavour, much to my friend’s dismay.
I did a photography course in 2007, but after that lost touch with it as college and work became more important and I didn’t take it very seriously. Fast track 10 years and I buy myself a Sony A6000. Ideally, I wanted to take incredible travel pictures, but again, it turns out this didn’t really spark joy in me, so I gave up on the idea and thought I was terrible at taking photos in general. After being in yachting for almost 4 years, I moved to Bali (2019). I worked at a swimwear label as a Marketing manager, but one day our photographer didn’t show and I was forced to do the shoot on location last minute. I realised that after doing all kinds of creative jobs such as fashion designing, social media marketing and make-up artistry, all I really wanted was to create pretty pictures (my Pinterest account should have given this away).
So in 2021, I was working at a rehab centre at the time and craving something creative. I picked up my camera, and advertised on my Instagram that I’m doing free shoots and looking for models – the response was insane. I ended up saying yes to 21 women & men who I offered shoots for, not knowing what was going to happen, whether I could do it and if I was going to be any good. I fell in love. I realised that photography ticked all my “dream lifestyle” boxes and that I had to pursue this feeling. It incorporates travelling to beautiful places, collaborating with incredible people and variety across the board. It set me on fire, I love it.
You offer a package called the “Women’s Empowerment Experience”, can you tell us what this entails and why you started it?
Yes, this was a result of doing the 21 shoots in 1 month. As I had limited time, I set up a series of questions I would ask my ‘clients’ to fast-track the brainstorming for us. I wanted to be creative, but my biggest focus was getting to the burning desire the person had in reaching out to me. I wanted to know why this was important for them, as most of them had a very special story they wanted to tell.
Being massively into psychology and how humans work and think, it became clear to me that women often have beautiful dreams and desires, but somehow we lack the ability to know what steps to take to get there. I wanted to simplify a process that has worked over and over for me – vision boarding – and make it tangible through photography. We go through a process of painting a picture of your future self, creating a vision board which acts as a mood board and then we set the scene for you to become her.
On the day of shooting you will be in the place where you feel most alive, you will listen to your favourite music while we shoot and then we do some other lovely things for you to embody the woman you want to be. After the shoot is completed, you then have the photos to act as a reminder of where you are going and who you truly are, because we all have bad days and we can forget. I call it the empowerment experience because it’s not only a photoshoot, it’s so much more and the results thereof ripple through your life every day thereafter.
Being a photographer is not an easy job. How have you found running your own business in the industry?
To be honest, I feel like it will be as hard as I tell myself it is. Every thought we have and word we say becomes our living truth, meaning it will be what we believe it is, so I try to be mindful of my word choices and beliefs.
So far, I’ve been incredibly lucky, grateful and gifted the most amazing clients, met the most incredible people and have built relationships I couldn’t have dreamt of. I believe there are many opportunities (challenges) to running your own business no matter what industry you’re in, but knowing I picked something I love and will do regardless if I get paid or not, makes the work worthwhile.
For all the aspiring photographers out there, what advice would you like to impart?
If you’re anything like me, you will probably be comparing yourself a lot to other creatives. Try to find inspiration instead, but stay true to your voice/ your look/ what you enjoy the most. Find what type of photography feels good to you and do only that. There are many of us and if you try to be like someone else, you will lose your unique touch.
No one is more you-er than you and that is your superpower! Also, shoot as much as you can, you truly learn the most by doing and taking risks by putting yourself out there. Get comfortable with rejection. You never know when you are a ’no’ away from a big yes!
Getting to know Amoré:
- If I had to choose one person, alive or dead, as my inspiration, it would be… Oh wow, that’s such a challenge. Vivienne Westwood was my hero for inventing punk and challenging social norms and boundaries in its entirety. Photography wise I love Amberly Valentine, I admire her softness and her editing is insane.
- My favourite hobby is (other than photography)… Surfing & travelling. The ultimate combo.
- My daily mantra is… This is something I learned in recovery and sticks with me, every day. Accept the things you cannot change, have the courage to change the things you can and ask for wisdom to know the difference.
Thank you, Amoré! Follow her journey below:
