Who is Jean, and what is Maison Jean?
Jean was my grandmother. I can still hear her laugh and remember how being around her felt warm and comforting. How she showed up to my soccer games looking so chic, hair done, nails done, looking like she had somewhere important to be right after, when really that was just her daily uniform.
After school, I'd call her and tell her about my day. Not a quick update, a long, rambling call about nothing in particular. Somewhere in the middle of it, I would always say some version of "ok, do you just want to come over?" and a little while later, there she'd be.
When I started really getting into photography, she drove me around without a single complaint. If I'd passed a place and wanted to capture it, she turned that car around. She let me chase the sunset (which is still a favorite hobby of mine). She never once acted like it was a hassle; she just believed it mattered because I cared about it.
She made me believe in myself before I had any real reason to. Not because she told me I was talented, although she did. It was more that she showed up, over and over, like I was worth showing up for. That kind of support doesn't really leave you. A lot of the confidence I have now in my own eye, in trusting what I notice and what I want to capture, comes from her support.
Maison Jean is what grew out of all of that: the travel photography, the travel prints, the travel guides. It's named after her because she's the reason I believe I can do whatever I set my mind to. Capturing moments the way I see it, that part I had to find on my own. But I don't think I'd have gone looking if she hadn't shown me, over and over, that I was capable of it.
