By Christopher Frost
“I was born in Boston in Lincolnshire and moved to Lincoln when I was six. After school, art college and a few years of working, I moved to Nottingham to study Creative Arts at Nottingham Polytechnic as a mature student. My sister was living in Beeston at that time, so I had been to the town to visit her. She was studying at the University of Nottingham, so I had spent time in the area. After I graduated, I moved to Beeston with my then partner and I already had some friends living in Beeston which was a bonus! I loved the proximity to the University Park and the ease of getting into Nottingham. I found Beeston people to be very friendly, and it was good to have the town, shops and a great chip shop so close by. There is a real feeling of community in Beeston and social media has helped that develop in recent years. In recent years I have moved to Long Eaton, but I still have that connection with Beeston through my business, which will be celebrating its 19th birthday in October.”
“After working at Nottinghamshire County Council for a number of years and then at another photography studio, I opened my business on Chilwell Road in 2002, and over the years I’ve got to know quite a lot of fellow business owners in the town, which is really positive. Chilwell Road is a great place to have a business because it’s full of small, independent businesses run by like-minded people. Sometimes we work together on promotions or competitions, and I like having the excuse to pop in to see people for a catch up! As a business community, we’ve survived the tram works and all the changes that brought, and I feel very hopeful about the town and its future. The arrival of the cinema is really positive and will help to keep Beeston a vibrant town and the arrival of new businesses is great to see.”
“One of the things I love about Beeston is that when I pop out to the Post Office or into the town for some reason, I bump into clients and it’s always nice to see people. I have lovely clients, some of whom have used Double Image services for many years. It makes me feel old when I see families who brought children for portraits when they were babies and are now doing A Levels or heading off to university.”
“The photography industry has changed beyond recognition since I started my business.At the start I used medium format, manual cameras and film and most clients wanted black and white images. This meant spending hours in the darkroom. Now I spend most of my day sitting at the computer, when I’m not taking photos of course.”
“I have been asked in recent years to take photos of the Beeston area for local businesses, which has helped me learn a bit more about Beeston and its history and to see things that I hadn’t noticed or been to before. It’s easy to just get on with life and pass things by, so to have a reason to really look at an area is an enjoyable way of learning more about it.