About Jolana: Your Photographer
Jolana Hollister is an internationally exhibited, award-winning photographer, speaker, and entrepreneur based in Rochester, New York. For over 12 years, she has used photography to help people reconnect with themselves and those they love most.
She is the photographer behind You Are Whole, a published book featuring the stories and portraits of breast cancer survivors from around the world, and serves as Co-Founder and President of the Breast Cancer Confidence Project, a nonprofit dedicated to restoring confidence and self-worth after breast cancer.
In addition to running her boutique studio in downtown Rochester, Jolana hosts retreats, mentors fellow entrepreneurs, and speaks throughout the community on topics related to women’s empowerment, body image, advocacy, and authentic human connection.
A bit about Jolana, in her own words: I was born in the Czech Republic and draw so much of my inspiration from the gorgeous Bohemian Paradise I grew up in. I went to St. John Fisher College for psychology and worked in the Psychiatric Emergency Room for 5 years. It was an amazing job that taught me a lot about our brains and our society. It was here I was able to see first-hand the amount of us out there that truly didn’t see what amazing human beings we really are.
I’m a huge goof. I love anything food and travel related, am a little too sarcastic for my own good, and am a huge optimist. I am a bit of an adrenaline junkie: Give me heights, rock climbing, new experiences, crazy local foods, and a camera to capture it all with. Outside of photography, I am a writer, and am actually a published author for a book of poems I created with a close friend of mine titled….you ready for this? “Tales from the Toilet: A collection of Poems.” Yes, you read that right. I am also currently working on a novel!
I love making every session fun and an experience that you can look back at and feel empowered by.
Self Portrait
My Boudoir Experience: I know how scary and crazy a boudoir session may seem. I grew up being told that being sexy is bad, and that I need to hide my body, so I spent most of my life keeping myself covered, and feeling like a fish out of water any time I wore something a bit sexier. It felt out of character, and I hated the feeling. 2019 was a year of rediscovering who I am, what’s important to me, and how I wanted to feel about myself moving forward. I took the leap and scheduled my own boudoir session, because how could I tell my clients to truly let themselves embrace who they are if I wasn’t doing the same? And let me tell you, the experience was transformational. This photo is from my own session, and I can’t get over how that image makes me feel. To accept that that is truly me, that I am capable of being sexy and desired, and that I am WORTHY of feeling beautiful is invigorating and freeing. I no longer question if what I am wearing is “too sexy” and if people will think it’s out of my norm; because as long as I am comfortable and love myself, it doesn’t matter! And I want to help you experience what I have, because you too, are also worthy of it <3