Hello.
Melissa Robin here
(aka- Founder of Lifestory U).
So nice to meet you!
First, let me introduce you to a few of my quirks.
I'M A PRO PHOTOGRAPHER
Not only have I been immersed in photography since childhood, I have been a professional photographer for 20 years and am a member of WPPI (Wedding and Portrait Photographers International)
I'M COLOURFUL
Whether it's with my hair, photography, or language, I love exploring all the nooks and crannies of colour. And yes, I'm from a part of the world that spells it with a "u" in the middle.
I'M IN LOVE WITH STORIES
I truly love capturing people's stories and helping them endure. I am a true believer of "those who's stories are written, are those that write history".
I'M A FLOWER CHILD
I come from both gypsy lines and hippy parents. I love nature and travelling the world to discover new people and places
My Little Lifestory.
I come from a long line of gypsies
I'm not too sure if these gypsies were the travelling sort (although I do love to travel...) but they were definitely bohemian (like, really and truly! My grandparents and mother were actually born in Bohemia!!) and it's a core element of that bohemian culture that I am most grateful for in my gypsy roots; the long-established history of storytelling.
During this wondrous childhood, my passion for photography was kindled.
Although we were living a lifestyle akin to the Little House in the Big Woods stories, I also gained the treasure of a "science" of storytelling; photography! My father was educated in this craft and was a genius at documenting our family through black and white images captured with his Konica and sometimes developed in his own darkroom (can you tell he took this picture as an early "selfie"?!). I still have that same darkroom equipment, and it's fantastic vinegary smell can still transport me to other worlds and other places in the blink of an eye.
In the 1980s, my father built a log cabin by hand.
It was in this log cabin built by my father where we lived the lifestyle of the 1800's, with oil lamps for light, a wood stove for heat, a hand pump for water, and yes, even bedpans (for the usual things they are used for), that stories were built. And all this while the world of the 1980's spun around us, before moving to Vancouver/ civilization just before my junior high school years where I underwent complete culture shock.
We would often sit around a campfire
It was here, around the campfire, that histories and sometimes futures, of an entire town could be built through an artfully-crafted storytelling session. They were great masters and mistresses of the great art of history-making through stories. Woven into my childhood, I too was lucky to have this campfire experience many times as my family and friends gathered around the fire in the Wilds of British Columbia.
It is from these gypsy storytelling roots and captivating appreciation for photography, that Lifestory U was born.
It springs from a desire to help those with seemingly ordinary lives tell their stories with confidence. By merging the time-tested art of storytelling and the science of photography, true Lifestories are created.
Have you ever...
... thought back to a pivotal moment of your life and wished, "geez, I sure wish I had taken a photo of that!"?
... been lucky enough to have photographs of the past but wondered what the full story behind the treasured image was?
... thought that maybe, just maybe, you or your loved ones are indeed hidden "ordinary superheroes" with stories to share?
If so, then Lifestory U is for you!
Lifestory U offers the tools to record the moments that matter most, make them easily accessible, and give them the recognition they truly deserve.