About Us
Gainsboro Studio is a full Service Commercial/Portrait /Fashion Photography and Graphic Arts Studio.We also provide full Salon/studio/spa services packages as well as complete educational and public speaking events/classes/workshops for digital photography, Photoshop, confidence and self esteem building. We are proud supporters of the Body Positivity Networks and work towards creating an environment that fosters the love of our individuality and personal power! About Joan - Her Story
Joan was blessed to begin her professional careers at the early age of twenty. She rose to a management position in the highly competitive Calgary market at the acclaimed "Pizzazz Hair Design." She was a hairstylist, aesthetician and cosmetologist, she understands the intricate Fashion / makeup and beauty industry. She is always up to date on makeup artistry and fashion trends.
Joan decided to expand her skills. After graduating as an registered psychiatric nurse she was on staff for 13 years at Alberta Hospital Ponoka. She became an emergency response clinical coordinator and instructor, teaching doctors and other nurses. Her career focused on acute adult psychiatric admissions.
After returning to her home town of Medicine Hat, she opened her own practice as an adolescent family and marital & stress reduction therapist.
She successfully pioneered the use of photography to assist bulimic / anorexic patients to, "see themselves," through the use of storyboarding and visual therapeutic processes.
Later she met and married her husband Scott. He was a freelance journalist submitting regularly to various publications. Joan began a new career becoming a sought after photographer, accompanying Scott on many travel, political and entertainment assignments. Since then Joan has purchased one of Canadas oldest and largest photography studios. Gainsboro Studio.
Her work expanded across the globe and to working as House photographer for Couture Fashion Week in New York City. She has since become a sought after Fashion Photographer in New York,
Las Vegas, Miami and London. Joan has continued on to combine her knowledge of photography and of body issues to assist those in the Fashion and Photography industries, via Public Speaking ,
1 on 1 and group coaching workshops as well as advocating for and by working closely with models and designers in the realm of Body Positivism, Self Esteem, Confidence and Fashion Inclusion.
Professional Associations:• PPOC (Professional Photographer Assoc. of Canada) • CAPS (Canadian Association of Professional Speakers) • PPA (Professional Photographers of America) • WPPI (Wedding and Portrait Photographers International) •SWPP (Society of Wedding & Portrait Photographers) •CAPA and CARFAC( The Canadian Association for Photographic Art) •NPPA (National Press Photographers Association) •NAPP (National Association of Photoshop Professionals) • CFPA (Children and Family Photographers of America) • SKPA (Special Kids Photography Association) • NILMDTS (Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep)... Joan is the Area Coordinator for Alberta (a non profit organization that provides grief assistance via portrait services to families who are losing a child in hospital.) • CRPNA (College of Registered Psychiatric Nurses of Alberta) Joan invites you to come travel with her, as she creates the excitement and grandeur of your "Gainsboro experience." This facility is unsurpassed in Alberta! Please call (403) 526-3054 About The StudioThe exact year remains unclear, but records indicate Gainsboro Studio first opened for business in or around 1906. The city kept records on file dating back to 1918 and the owner was Medicine Hat resident, George Browne. In 1958, the Studio was purchased by Bill & Nellie Brown, who were no relation to the original owner. They continued to operate the business until it was purchased in 1979. The Studio was re-named Gainsboro '79 Studio. Then moved to it's current location ... a former 2 storey Victorian home located just one block from the heart of Downtown Medicine Hat, Alberta. History buffs can find more information by contacting the Medicine Hat Museum & Art Gallery. They have kept records about Gainsboro for the past 100 years, continuing to do so till this day. Gainsboro again changed hands in 2007, purchased by Joan Bateman-Cowan. She incorporated the name Gainsboro Studio Ltd. Joan took ownership including all past files, images, negatives and archives. She preserved the benefits of Gainesboro's' amazing history in photography……thus ensuring the quality and prestige associated with Gainsboro Portraiture lived on; yet brought a new fresh artistry in style. Joan brings with her many years of experience, credentials and is excited to create lasting memories for your family. To all of our friends, clients and website visitors, thank you for joining us here. Gainsboro Studio offers professional quality photography for all occasions. We insist on keeping technologically advanced, being one of the first Studios in Alberta to become fully digital. We are fastidious in our work, by choosing us, you choose quality! Gainsboro staff are experts in re-touching, computer enhancements, and digital artistic manipulation. For more information on our services, please call (403) 526-3054. Gainsboro Studio is well known for it's fabulous photography backdrops and settings. Joan has cleverly used ever inch of space (indoors and out) that the studio has to offer. From full concrete and glass block walls which have been brilliantly intertwined in a garden consisting of vines, foliage and waterfalls (shown above) to industrial looking rusted metal and graffiti backdrops, Victorian looking bridges and verandas, Spanish Haciendas, and so much more. Gainsboro also offers "Off-Location" shoots as well.
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