I takes courage to change things. When we try something new, we don’t know how it’s actually going to work out. We can hypothesize, we can compare to other, similar things, but we cannot know. And that can be a bit scary.
Growing up in England, with a constantly changing landscape (both geographically and emotionally) I can do change. In fact my entire life was built on change, to the extent that in the absence of it, I felt I wasn’t making progress. It felt strange to finally ‘settle down’ here in Donegal. I’ve moved about 45 times now and I’m not even 40. I’ve had a million jobs, friends, boyfriends (not a million boyfriends lol) and hairstyles. So I am probably pretty good with changes.
However, when Hanna Hats approached me last year, to help create a new photographic story for them I was a little worried. Well not worried exactly, but I paused. I mean Hanna Hats is a well established, traditional brand, a successful one internationally. I think what I mean is I took it pretty seriously.
When I work with family run businesses I am extremely aware of how much it means to them that what I do works. The lack of hierarchical anonymity means it’s personal. This adds to the pressure to get it right. I’m not a massive fan of pressure to be honest. That’s why I live on the West Coast and not in a city.
Hanna Hats are steeped in history and tradition. Founded in 1924 and run by the Hanna family in Donegal Town, they enjoy global sales of their traditional tweed caps. They recently employed an amazing designer from Dublin called Rachel, who has created some very cool new designs.
It was Rachel who reached out to me about the new campaign. As soon as I saw her designs at our first meeting and she described what her’s and the Directors’ vision was, I knew I could do the job well.
AJ & Rachel
Pretty much the whole team, apart from Fred, who only likes to appear in wing mirrors, photographically speaking.
Happy woman!
Me showing Claudia how to pose on a vintage car.
It was such a fun shoot, even though it was probably minus two that day. We worked really hard and laughed so much it didn’t feel like work at all.
The campaign images were revealed at Showcase Ireland and were a huge success for the company. I heard that even the lovely late John Hanna approved of our efforts. And that means a lot.
Claudia & Shane.
The happy couple. Shane has moved to Canada since then and was signed by an amazing agency over there and is doing some very nice campaigns! So proud :D
We just did another campaign together last week. We had thought that it being June, the weather would be nice - but NOOOOO - it was raining the entire day! I mean the whole day. All of it. But the images are looking good anyway, hopefully we get to publish them soon!
Please go check out www.hannahats.com to see their products - sadly with my hair, I can’t carry off a hat :D
Models: Claudia McLaughlin & Shane Gallagher
Hair & Makeup: Brenda Doherty
Styling: Hanna Hats
Photography & Editing: Noir Photique