Chloe Lodge always seems to have her sights set on her next step.

And with the opening of her studio/gallery/retail store in Kurow’s main street three days before Christmas, the photographer has added yet another facet to her multi-pronged business.

Chloe says she measures the success of her new premises by how often she is there. 

“It's really interesting, because a lot of people are asking me how it's going, and my response is a little bit like, ‘well, I've got no comparison and I had not really any preconceptions of how it was going to go’. 

“It's such a unique space, and it's in such a unique environment, which has such waves and lulls, and the reality is, that it is going really well, because I'm now too busy to be there!”

One of Chloe’s biggest reasons for opening the studio is to have a physical presence - “to bring my work up off social media and into the world” - and to be available for conversation.

“Really, for me, it's a conversation starter.” 

And the conversations she has are amazing, she says.

“It's non-specific in terms of audience. So both men and women love coming in, I have engaging conversations with every age . . . I have people who have connections to the area, and may not be there anymore or they've never been and it's their first time.”

In-store she sells jigsaw puzzles, postcards, and keyrings, all made using her photography, as well as work from other local artists, candles and locally-made jewellery.

Chloe decided to open with a retail component, because it was so close to Christmas, and over the next six to 12 months, she expects the space will continue to evolve.

“It's very much a working space for me in terms of separating my work from home, because I've worked from home for 15 years.”

Chloe, a solo mother of two, sees the studio as a chance to make some boundaries around work and home life and “show the community that I'm really serious about what I do”.

“It's a validation point, really. I'm a career photographer, not a mum with a camera, and sometimes you have to go above and beyond, particularly as a woman, to get that message across.

“So, it's that I am here. This is what I do. This is what I can do. You can actually visually see it and feel it.”

She also is aware there is no longer a camera shop in Ōamaru, and wants her space to be an elevation of the craft of photography. Large brand electronic stores don’t even sell cameras anymore, but people are taking more photos than ever before, she says.

“I don't think I'll bring cameras in, but I definitely might diversify in that way.”

Chloe Lodge's Kurow retail space offers her a chance to connect with people face to face. Photo: Chloe Lodge

She enjoys being more accessible to talk with clients about ideas, has plans for an exhibition, and is looking for publishers for “a couple of books”.

Chloe loves to tell the stories that aren’t being told through her photography, and this has inspired her to 

turn her lens to the over 70s, offering them complementary photo shoots.

She likens it to an ongoing exhibition she previously ran called A Window on the Haka of photos she had taken on her drives up and down the Hakataramea Valley - a place where the majority of the population don’t get to see and enjoy.

The idea came to her following a visit from a local man called Jack, in his 80s, who used to have a fruit and vege store in the building where the studio is.

“Everybody knows him and everybody knows his face . . . and he knows everybody . . . and he walked in and he was telling me these stories.”

She realised there were so many more people who had interesting stories to tell, and who had lived through a lot.

“And yet, whenever I get hired to do shoots, it's generally if someone has a baby, they get really excited, and then the kids get to a certain age, and you stop . . . and I thought well actually, there's such a value and a beauty in the stories of older generations.”

She isn’t entirely sure how she’ll run the shoots, but encourages people to book, so she can ensure she is in the studio. She hopes people will bring their older parents and grandparents in.

Chloe describes herself as in the “messy space of growth”, although it is already hard to fathom how she finds enough hours in the day for all she has going on.

Her list of accomplishments is long and ever increasing, as a content creator for camera brand Nikon, and with global commissions lining up.

On top of her photography work, and running the studio, she is also mentoring and teaching other photographers, maintains a strong social media presence, has a podcast - Conversations from the Gap - and is also running a year-long Substack project called A Love Affair with Light, which has drawn in photographers from all over the world.

“I'm definitely in that space . . . in terms of, ‘I'm capable of this, I've got this experience, I'm being recognized from pretty much the top of the food chain in photography to, you know, selling postcards in Kurow for $3’.

“So, it's sort of, you know, I'm in that space of I have the ability and flexibility to grow, it's just working out how to do it and manage it and all that sort of stuff.”

With her Substack account, people can subscribe for free, and they receive a weekly email with the type of light to look for in their photography that week.

For paid subscribers, there is a bit more information and support, she says. 

“And I've got photographers all over at different levels . . . and you can do it with your eyes, you can do it with your phone, you can do it with your camera. Like, honestly, it doesn't matter, but it's really a way of me bringing my best self and offering it to anybody that wants to understand more about photography.”

Coming up, Chloe also has a three-day residential masterclass she is running in Kurow at the beginning of May.

“It's really a masterclass in being the strongest photographer you can be, with all that you bring to the camera.

“It's in autumn in Waitaki, so it's a beautiful time of year.”