Belle Chapman Photography’s Forevermore Initiative

Buy One, Gift One

What is Forevermore?

Forevermore is Belle’s side gig to Belle Chapman Photography. Forevermore provides free family photography sessions to young families with a member who has been diagnosed with cancer. Belle has big plans for Forevermore but at the moment because she is only one chick and cannot possibly assist every family unfortunately (hoping to in a few years!). She is therefore concentrating on what is most important to her, which is ensuring young families have an opportunity to have family photos taken before treatment takes its toll on the sick person. Before they no longer feel or look like themselves. If you fit this criteria please complete the form below to apply for your free session.

Belle Chapman Photography was established from a rebellious spirit and giving soul: delivering natural and emotive family photography, while leading the way for socially conscious families allowing them to gift/donate free photography sessions to families in need. With a team of dedicated photographers available Australia wide. Doing good is what we do best. Let me introduce you to our initiative Forevermore Inc. where for every session purchased a session is donated to a family facing a cancer diagnosis.

It all started when…

From early in life I have always felt that I am meant to help others!! After working in a gym and helping people lose weight and spending 15 years in the Apprenticeship Scheme helping young people build a career, I have still felt like I have not quite reached where I am meant to be. While living the corporate life in Melbourne, I was heavily involved in the administration and relationship building areas for a Foundation set up by one of the Group Training Companies I worked for. However, when my kids came along I no longer wanted to work endless hours a day, so I came back to my high school passion of photography, naturally falling into family photography. After deciding to re-brand my small photography business I was forced do a lot of internal exploration and this is when my little foundation idea came to me.

Now, I have a major goals for this little foundation but my first mission is to provide free photography to families who have had a parent diagnosed with a terminal illness (cancer being close to my heart). There are already services out there for babies and children who are ill, for example the amazing people at Heartfelt (did you know they capture up to 16 y/o), but there is a gap here. No services I could find for adults who are unwell. Now, if you come to me with a sick little one I will of course review your application - you are not automatically ineligible. But I want to fill the gap; parents take pictures of their kids but very rarely do parents take pictures of themselves with their kids, other than the odd selfie.

My father passed away from cancer when I was 5 years old, he was sadly at the age of only 35. I have many amazing images of my father and I. Some where he looks well but more of him with a bald head from treatment or not looking himself with no thanks to his battle with cancer. Throughout the last 5 years or so in my small business I have photographed many people who have won their battle with this beast and I have given away free sessions to people going through their own battle and this is where it came to me. Some of the words I have heard from people who have experienced this battle both won and lost, “we meant to get some photos done early in the experience but other items were more important like medical costs.” So many times I have heard, “we wanted to get photos taken but then I started treatment and lost my hair and the last thing I wanted was to be posing for images when I didn’t look like me.”

So my dream is: I don’t want any kids/partners out there to question the love and devotion their ill parent/soul mate has for them. I want to give ill parents the option at diagnosis BEFORE they start treatment and lose their hair, to have some family images taken focusing on the love and connection of the family. I hope they win their battle and I have in the end simply given the family some amazing memories to cherish for the rest of their life. However, should that parent lose their battle I want these kids to always have the special images I create for them to remember that parent; remember and see the love they had for them anytime they look at those images. I want them to remember the good times, the parent they knew, and not have the strongest memory be one of them in their worst moments of health. Don’t get me wrong, I believe these images in the last phase of life are important too, but I don’t want them to be the only ones the loving family left behind has to remember this person by.

I love looking back at images of me and my Dad. I will cherish these forever, but you know what? I grew up in a time where mobile phones didn’t exist, selfies were not known by the world and photography wasn’t such a big thing. I have many images of us working in the yard together, exploring and hanging out but not a lot of us just being together snuggled up or talking to each other. I’d give anything for a selfie with my Dad. Lifestyle photography is extremely open to capturing these quiet moments amongst the chaos and fun of a family, and it might just be because I love this style of photography, that I yearn for these types of images of not only my Dad, but also my own little family.