I had a fascinating conversation with Louise Thomas last month. I had enjoyed some beautiful photographs displayed on a tree at last year’s Christmas Tree Festival and decided to contact Louise to see if she would like to tell me a bit about her photography business named after her two children: Jessica and George.

What I didn’t expect was a young woman who has spent most of her career as a detective within Leicestershire Police, making a dramatic change in her career, to embrace a better family life. Louise is now an award-winning portrait photographer, with a home studio on Flint Lane in Barrow. She specialises in maternity, newborn, baby, child and family portraiture, offering both studio and outdoor location shoots. She has followed the footsteps of her grandfather, Michael Bissill, now 94 years old, who was a well-known and respected wedding photographer in Loughborough.

Photography has always been a passion for Louise. She often took photographs for friends and family. The lightbulb moment came for Louise when a friend insisted on giving her money for the photographs she had taken, and from this point she began to think that she could follow her dream and start her own photography business. She invested in training, travelling the country to participate in the best education; set up a studio in her spare bedroom; and purchased backdrops, lighting and all the paraphernalia of a photographic studio. She decided to name her business after her two children and Jessica and George Photography was born in 2020!

Fast forward a few years, Louise now has a purpose-built home studio, which I had the opportunity to visit. This space is full of props, with her beautiful photos on display and a truly inviting area perfect for capturing family photographs. She is friendly, approachable and offers natural, fun and relaxed photography sessions.

Louise has lived in Barrow for the last 17 years with her husband, and her children have grown up in the village. She loves the sense of community and our fantastic village life. She loves living here and getting to know the families and children she photographs. She regularly photographs the children at Barrow Playgroup and at Lime Tree Nursery, where both of her children attended when they were younger. She supports local bakers, Kirkman’s Kitchen and The Secret Garden Café, who have supplied her clients with delicious cakes for her first birthday cake smash sessions. She also sponsors Quorn Football Club (who George plays for), and is often on the sidelines photographing the kids’ teams and events! She regularly posts on her socials, with the latest offers and seasonal shoots (Christmas, school photographs, Easter, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Bluebell sessions and pumpkin patches all are firm favourites!).

Pop her a follow to keep up to date, and you can read all about her work on her website www.jessicaandgeorgephotography.co.uk

Louise says she loves her new life. She has had the pleasure of photographing many families in Barrow and looks forward to meeting more along the way. Barrow Voice wishes her every success.

Judith Rodgers