Who is Albalone?

This is me! I’m not one to show my face on here more than necessary but I thought I would share with you my story. Who I am and how I ended up here in London.

My name is Albalone Le Goff, (call me Alba). I am 26, born in France on the West Coast. I am the last one of 5 step-siblings. I started photography when I was 15 years old, back then it was a trend for girls my age to grab a camera and photograph everything and anything! Most of them stopped but I carried on! I would say it was my first and only hobby. I started photographing landscapes but got quickly bored. I wanted human interaction so I moved into photographing girls in my neighbourhood. I use to stalk Facebook to find girls my age who would be my model (I could be considered a creep if I were a man 😆 😅).

At 18, I started studying for a real estate diploma and photography slowly became a side job for me. Girls would contact me to be photographed. I loved the creativity and human contact, I would scout my area and photograph in various locations on sunrise or sunset, on the beach or in nearby forests.

That’s when I started to consider this as a full-time job. I then graduated and started working as a realtor in an agency. It was a lot of hustling, especially in the first months. I didn’t get along with the direction and was bored in my job after a few weeks. I didn’t think it was right for me.

So I decided to leave France at 20 years old to move to Australia for a gap year. My dad was worried. “you have just graduated, you have a nice flat, you’re settled, why move now?”. Sorry Dad but it just doesn’t feel right, I am not ready to settle, I have so much to learn and explore.

So I left. I didn’t speak English back then. I saved as much as I could, sold my car and other things that will help finance my trip. Worked every hour I could leading up to my leaving date, even sublet my flat on Airbnb, to only get caught. 🙈

Once there, I worked on a few farms to collect 6 months of work which granted me the right to extend my visa for an extra year. During this period I learnt to speak basic English which would help me with my future plan to move to the city to work as a photographer. This was wild. I went to an extremely remote location, living amongst Australian cowboys, killed and ate snakes twice, flew in a tiny plane to locate cattle and even went to country-town parties with rodeo. I would have never experienced that if I didn’t need those days to extend my visa.

Once this was done, I settled in Melbourne, travelling the city on my longboard with a camera in my backpack. During this time I would take any photography job that would help pay my bills, but back then I mostly love shooting fashion. I collaborated with a lot of models and artists and got my work published in magazines which built my self-confidence. When things started to look bright for my business, my visa was up and I had to leave. This was a really difficult time as I loved Australia, there is this positive energy, this youth and hope that I didn’t feel in France. I made some very strong friendships like I never did before (@iax_yes and @niramoon I miss you guys). I loved my lifestyle there. But my time was up…

I had to return home, it was a gloomy November in Brittany. I remember it was raining when I arrived. Living back with my father really depressed me. I felt like I lost my wings. So I quickly planned to leave for another country. I hesitated between Berlin and London. With Berlin, I would have had to learn another language, which would have taken me a good 6 months. With not many savings this was unrealistic. I decided to go to London instead. I managed to get a job interview for an e-commerce fashion brand, I might as well try my luck.

I arrive there and it was also raining. I felt like Paddington, a bit lost in this big city. It was much bigger than Melbourne, less welcoming, people walked fast and looked down.

I went to the interview and didn’t get the job… I didn’t have enough experience. “That’s fine I will find something else”. I got hired somewhere else in e-commerce, photographing shoes. It was extremely boring and was paid £8/hour. Not enough to live in this city! It didn’t last very long. I moved on to a series of different small jobs, going from Google Maps to a cheese shop and back to real estate. 

My most recent job helped me settle and save to buy my own property. I felt stable and encouraged in this job, I loved the team and the managers. It enabled me to pay my bills and free some time to do my own things on the side. I explored fashion photography a bit more, my work was published by Vogue Italia and Schön magazines. But I quickly realised that I would need a lot more talent and determination to make a living in that industry. I would have to work for exposure (=for free) in order to get known. With fast fashion, I will have to produce a lot of images that didn’t mean much and would be forgotten in the next season.

Although creative, this felt a bit hollow for me. On the side, I started to do pet photography. I would offer mini-sessions in pet stores around Greater London. After a few stores, I started to get fully booked and make money. This had a lot more meaning to me than fashion; people were so in love with their photos of their pets, it was truly making them happy.

It made me realise that I wanted to produce photos that truly meant something to someone. That they would cherish those images for the rest of their life. That’s when I started to photograph families. And I am glad I did. I am very patient with pets and children, I can make those little ones smile and cheer which in term makes my work candid and happy, like a childhood memory.

Although I am still at the beginning of my journey, it feels right and I am ready for the near future.

This year, my goal is to expand my portfolio, share my experience and how I feel on my blog and on my socials. I hope you will enjoy it as much as I do.

Albalone, Family & Pet Photographer.