North Yorkshire photographer helps women be themselves and show their inner beauty

Yahoo

16-07-2025

A North Yorkshire photographer aims to make women feel extra special after enjoying a photoshoot, which includes a special makeover.
Joanna Brierley runs Joanna's Touch, which has been highlighting femininity and women's strength since 2019.
The single mum of two is Polish-born but for the past 20 years has lived near Thirsk.
Prior to becoming a mum she ran a Polish grocery shop in Ripon, before closing the business.
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However, she felt just being a stay-at-home mum was taking something away from her life.
She wanted to provide for her children and through study and training created Joanna's Touch, where a woman could feel what she needed - a space where they could be 'seen, heard, worthy, beautiful and enough.'
Joanna explained: 'I offer deeply personal makeover photoshoots, where I guide my clients through the whole journey: from natural makeup, gentle hair styling, using my curated studio wardrobe if they wish, and then capturing their truest self in portraits.
'I offer more than photos. I offer an experience. Each session is tailored to the woman in front of me and her story, her comfort, her magic.'
Most of Joanna's clients are women over 30, mums, business owners, care givers, women, she says, who have spent years giving to others, and want something back for themselves.
Joanna Brierley (Image: Joanna Brierley)
Joanna said: 'I'm often told that my photoshoots feel like therapy. I'm not a therapist, but I listen, I see, I care deeply. And I've been there. That makes all the difference.'
As well as photography, Joanna is also trained in make-ups, which better helps create trust with the client rather than a brought-in make-up artist.
Joanna said: 'My approach to makeup is natural, enhancing, and empowering. I never want a woman to feel like she's being covered up.
'Instead, I help her reveal the beauty that's already there, often hidden beneath exhaustion, self-doubt, or years of putting everyone else first.
'This all-in-one service—skincare guidance, makeup, and photography- creates a seamless, nurturing experience.
'It's not rushed, it's not transactional—it's transformational. That's what makes Joanna's Touch different. Because I've been that woman.'
Joanna's services also include a Slavic Girls Photography Experience, which is a 'celebration of culture, femininity and identity.'
She explained: 'It's an immersive, heartfelt experience that blends photography with tradition, femininity, and reconnection. We photograph in wildflower fields, meadows, and open countryside.
'Women wear floaty dresses, handmade floral crowns, and pieces inspired by Slavic heritage.'
It's not just about visuals, but a need to feel beautiful, or a return to tradition and heritage, a moment of pause, healing and pride.
Joanna said: 'All leave with more than just photographs, they leave with a piece of themselves reclaimed.'
Joanna's qualifications did not begin the classroom, but also growing in in Poland she was taught empowering skills to take care of herself and others.
Make-up became a passion a passion in her teenage years, drawn into how it could 'uplift a woman's spirit,' leading to courses and workshops, as well as experimenting and observing.
Photography followed in a similar way, training with photographers who inspired her, not just for their technical talent but how they made people feel.
Joanna Brierley (Image: Joanna Brierley)
Joanna continued: 'My qualifications are not just certificates, they are the thousands of hours I've spent helping women feel seen and celebrated.'
This is why Joanna says many of her clients cry. They are strong in their lives but in the photoshoots, they are allowed to pause from being strong and for the first time in years 'feel beautiful' and 'themselves.'
Their size and age doesn't matter, as 'beauty lives in all of us.'
Such is Joanna's success in this, she volunteers with the charity Look Good Feel Better, teaching women undergoing cancer treatment how to care for their skin and apply makeup with confidence.
Similarly, she is helping women who have suffered emotional abuse.
Joanna's final message is she is using her own journey to help other women.
Women give too much to others but they need to feel they are worthy in themselves.
She reminds us, while she is no therapist, so many clients say sessions with her feel like therapy.
Joanna concluded: 'That trust and connection is something. I take to heart.
"In everything I offer, I simply hope to help women reconnect with their beauty, their story, and their inner strength — because when a woman sees herself clearly, she can change her world.'