Capturing
Breath
on Film.
Come back home to yourself.
A long-exposure portrait experience capturing your breath, heartbeat, dreams, wishes & desires on film. An invitation to connect with what’s true.
Capturing Breath on Film
Caitlin - Oaxaca - 2017
Some feelings were never meant for words.
Take what lives underneath the surface & turn it into your own visual poetry.
The Experience
Not every turning point comes with a ceremony.
We have rituals for weddings. Births. Graduations. Funerals.
But some of the most consequential moments of our lives happen quietly.
There isn't always a room full of people watching. No certificate. No flowers. No aisle to walk down.
Sometimes it's just:
I decided.
I'm ready to release this.
I'm choosing something different.
I'm beginning again.
I'm committing to myself.
I'm ready for what's next.
These moments deserve to be marked, too.
Capturing Breath is a ritual for the moments that matter to you.
A place to stop. Come home to yourself. Listen for what's true. Honor what you're releasing and name what you're choosing next. Then we make that invisible moment visible.
Not because you simply need beautiful photographs of yourself
But because this moment mattered
And you want to remember.
Capturing Breath on Film is a long-exposure portrait experience created with a large-format 4x5 film camera, like the kind Ansel Adams used. I bring a traveling darkroom, keeping the experience tactile, handmade, and rooted in the magic of film.
You’re invited to close your eyes and become present to your breath, your heartbeat and this moment in your life: what matters to you, what you’re releasing, or what you’re intending.
The photographs aren’t meant to document exactly how you look. They make visible something that cannot be seen in plain sight. This is deeper evidence that you’re alive.
Usually we want to stop time and capture how we look on the outside. We perform for the camera, wanting to be seen a certain way.
This is not that.
No performance. No poses. This is a moment to expand time, capturing your internal presence on film.
Slow. Sacred. Handmade. A tuning in.
Gathering evidence of what lives underneath the surface and between the words, what can so easily be missed in plain sight.
The photographs are artifacts that mark and honor a threshold: a sobriety date, a transition, a commitment, a relationship, a moment you want to remember. The final photographs are visual poetry, a love letter to who you are and who you are becoming. Based in Los Angeles, Capturing Breath travels internationally. Past sessions have taken place in Paris, Provence, Milan, Rome, Tuscany, London, Marrakech, Vancouver, Mallorca, and New York.
Sessions are released in limited numbers in select cities.
I invite unpredictability, using a stack of books as my tripod. The "bookpod" is made of your books and mine. Bring what means the most. We'll see what happens when the camera shifts slightly as I load it with film.
It's usually better than what I saw through the lens. The camera knows things.
Do you feel the nudge?
You’ve been spending too much time doing
and want some space to just be.
You’re in recovery
We’re all recovering from something
and you’re approaching a sober date or another milestone that matters.
You want to celebrate a relationship.
Your partner. Your child. Your best friend.
You’ve made a decision, crossed a threshold,
or entered a new chapter and you want to
remember this moment.
You feel stuck and want to do something completely out of the ordinary to shake things loose.
You want to feel more grounded.
More anchored in what you know to be true.
“Some of my most transcendent experiences were in front of Catherine’s camera.”
Danielle LaPorte
“This isn’t just about beautiful photos, though it is: it’s about seeing your own power and being in your body & claiming your space in this world. It’s worth every penny and more.”
Holly Whitaker
What emerges
is something that could only belong to you:
a visual record of
your own rhythm, hum, energy, frequency, song.
Investment
Jessica Sandhu, La Pitchoune, Provence, France45-Minute Experience
$850
A concentrated Capturing Breath on Film experience, offered on limited Sitting Days in select cities.
includes:
A 45-minute experience
Large format film camera
Processing and high-resolution scans of the final photographs
Digital files delivered within seven business days so you can print them on. your own
1 4×5” print.
Additional finished prints are available separately.
This is available only on designated dates and at the announced locations. For a privately scheduled or more expansive session, please see The Signature.
Carrie-Anne Moss, Pacific Palisades, CaliforniaThe Signature ◦ 2-Hour Experience
$2000
An expansive Capturing Breath on Film experience.
With more time, we can move slowly, follow what reveals itself, and work with 4×5 film, Polaroid, and other cameras chosen intuitively. The session unfolds in response to you and the present moment.
The Signature includes:
A pre-session zoom conversation
Up to 2-hours of portrait-making
One location
4×5 film, Polaroid, and additional cameras selected intuitively.
Film processing and high-resolution scans of the final photographs.
One signed 8×10” silver-gelatin print, professionally matted and framed
Two signed 4×5” prints
Additional finished artwork is available separately.
Location and travel expenses are not included.
Danielle LaPorte, My Apartment, ParisThe Immersion
A two-day Capturing Breath on Film commission
From $10,000 · By inquiry
Cathryn · Mallorca, Spain · 2024
Travel Darkroom Supplies
Mallorca
Travel Darkroom
Mallorca
I’m based in Los Angeles, but this work travels.
We can meet in a beautiful hotel, a private home, a photo studio, an Airbnb, or somewhere meaningful to you anywhere on the globe that we can get to. I travel for my art exhibitions in Paris, Milan, Los Angeles & NYC and open spots in those cities when I’m there. I can meet you in your favorite city or in your backyard.
Spots are limited. Join the waitlist and you’ll be the first to know when sessions open and which cities I’ll be visiting.
Have something meaningful coming up
that can’t wait? Email us at studio@catherinejust.com
The Origin Story
Capturing Breath on film started in 2016 when my son Max was 7. I intended for this to be a year long offering to celebrate 30 years of sobriety. I’m now in between my 39th and 40th year sober and Capturing Breath on Film has come along with me becoming part of my life’s work. Learn more.
About Me
At 18, newly sober from meth addiction, I picked up a camera and turned my pain into visual poetry.
It saved my life.
39 years later, still sober, I exhibit internationally : Milan, Paris, London, New York, Los Angeles : and offer "Capturing Breath on Film," photo sessions
that travel with me globally.
I'm a single parent to my son Max, who has Down syndrome. He keeps me anchored in presence, honesty, and what actually matters.
I personally apprenticed with Miguel Ruiz, Author of the Four Agreements and am certified in somatic modalities that I bring with me if it feels right to bring those into my sessions.
I offer mentoring, courses and retreats for those looking for ways to turn their own experiences into their
own version of visual medicine.
I’m based in Los Angeles, but this work travels.
We can meet in
a beautiful hotel, a private home, a photo studio, an Airbnb,
or somewhere meaningful to you.
Spots are limited. Join the waitlist and you’ll be the first to know when sessions open and which cities I’ll be visiting.
Have something meaningful coming up that can’t wait? Email us at studio@catherinejust.com.