MANDI HIBBERD
I was creatively lead from the very beginning.
From my earliest childhood days creativity was in my blood, whether it was musical based or through the arts, but at the age of ten that’s when the music bug took hold. Sat in the Blackpool Tower Ballroom watching the organist at work at the might Tower Wurlitzer, when I blurted out I want to play that instrument.
It took three serious years of training on the Piano and Church Organ. Then at the age of thirteen I got my lucky break, and one Sunday morning I took command of the instrument. Before long, I became a regular feature. By the age of fourteen my weekends consisted of working in a Camera & Organ Shop and then to the console of the Wurlitzer organ at the Tower Ballroom, otherwise when free time I would be wandering around the Tower putting my new found camera skills into practice.
For the next few years the weekends continued while completing Comprehensive School, and cashing out with a few O’Levels in Art, Music and French, only to be told I wouldn’t amount to much, so I went onto Business School, and continued working in the Ballroom or at the Shop.
At Eighteen after graduation from Business School I landed my first proper job at a firm of Accountants, which would paved my alternative career if anything should go wrong with my musical career at the Tower Ballroom. Who knew it was to be the right decision later down the road, as four years later a personal tragedy struck causing a huge rethink, which lead to me leaving the Accountants and Blackpool Tower to embark upon my first walk down the corridors of Academia.
By 1994, armed with a post-doctorate and enticed with a lucrative job offer, so I crossed the Irish Sea, but as 1998 rolled in the contract expired and now the UK shores became more tempting. Only to be headhunted by one of the top Insolvency Firms.
With past experience well and truly in the bag, my free weekends allowed me to explore an alternative career if I wanted to leave the insolvency business, and that me to explore and grow Fairyland Weddings & Event Planners. By 2002 my business had become a well established Wedding Business and I had become a reputable Wedding Photographer and had my weddings had appeared in many of the UK and European Bridal Magazines.
Just my life appeared to be looking up, life was soon shattered late 2007 with devastating news, only for life and work to be put on hold until July 2009 when my husband passed away from a Brain Tumour.
Moving forward for me, life now had no purpose, I closed off and disappeared to the golf course to allow my anger and frustration to be vented down the golf shaft towards that little ball that I hit for yards. From 2007 I had no interest in my business, and in 2008, a group of my wedding suppliers put a proposal to me, for them to manage it and to look after the clients, which I agreed to, as the Insolvency Firm allowed me to work from home.
Of course you can guess what I was like in August 2009, people would talk to me and I would look at them blankly, unable to be any use to anything or anyone, I took a sabbatical from both professions. But as 2012 approached the light was beginning to clear, and a national business made me an offer for the business, so I sold it. This now allowed me freedom.
The Camera now remained untouched and Insolvency work was a fleeting memory now as I embarked on my second tour of the corridors of Academia.
By 2015 life was just an existence and I now arrived at another crossroads and a decision had to be made. Life became more interesting so the camera resurfaced and Mandi Hibberd Photography was created. In 2018, I was soon christened The Lifeboat Photographer of the East Riding and by 2019 I was also known as The Withernsea Photographer too.
In 2020 with lockdown approaching new ideas and challenges became harder, but the creative streak quickly kicked in and various mediums helped to take my photographic name further afield. It was all about finding ideas and expanding on that creativity and interests which then led to the new created The Withernsea Calendar.
Having achieved my second doctorate in 2021, this allowed me to continue exploring the world of words and visual images through my work, which resulted in a huge achievement as on Friday 13th January 2023 by joining the Getty Image Family. Since then Mandi Hibberd Photography has continued to grow.
In the same year the travel bug hit hard which helped put my home town on the map and it wasn’t long before Withernsea USA came calling. Thanks to Getty Images, I’ve downsized a bit on the social media front and post mainly on Viewbug and YouPic, but the majority of my work is available for sale on Fine Art America.
This year I decided to dip my toes into the world of self-publishing and have released a few books on Amazon, being “Withernsea Lifeboats: Past & Present” and “The Withernsea Photobook”, so today for me creativity isn’t just about the image, but another way to tell the story to your audience, but to plant a desire in their heart, a yearning to turn the page and learn more about your idea.
Ultimately, it’s about creating memorable images.