"I started Alt Studio as an antidote to the other studios I’d worked in.

I saw the lack of care, the lack of creativity and the factory-like process of it all. It wasn’t how a photoshoot should be.

So in 2011 I did something about it.”

 

That’s Simon Hunt, photographer, founder and the person behind every single shoot at Alt Studio.

 

Before Alt Studio, Simon worked in larger commercial studios where clients were moved through like a conveyor belt. Great for volume. Not so great for the person who’d been nervous about booking for months.

 

Alt Studio was built to be the opposite of all that.

 

Based in Manchester’s Northern Quarter since 2011, one of the most creative, vibrant and brilliantly weird parts of the UK, Alt Studio has spent 15 years creating portraits that people genuinely treasure. Not just photos. Experiences. Moments. Versions of themselves they didn’t know existed until they saw them on a big screen at the end of the day.

 

Simon was awarded Vintage Photographer of the Year, but honestly, the award he’s most proud of sits in the reviews.

Over 500 five star reviews from real people who walked in nervous and left on cloud nine.

 

Every shoot is led personally by Simon, supported by a select team of hair and makeup artists he trusts completely to achieve the Alt Studio aesthetic. No strangers. No shortcuts. Just people who genuinely care about getting it right.

 

Alt Studio works with everyone. Women, men, trans and cross dress clients, couples, all ages, all body types, all walks of life. Some come to celebrate. Some come to treat themselves. Some come because someone who loves them bought them a voucher and told them they deserved it. Some come because they’ve wanted to do something just for themselves for years and finally decided today was the day.

 

“Whatever brings you through our door, most leave having experienced something they didn’t expect, a confidence,

a freedom, a version of themselves they’d never seen before. That’s what Alt Studio really is.”

 

If you’ve never done anything like this before, good. That’s exactly the point.

 

Simon & the Alt Studio team 🖤