DENISE PILLAY - BEHIND THE LENS

DenisePillayBEHIND THE LENS

A A 29-year-old29-year-old fearless,fearless, vibrant,vibrant, self-empoweredself-empowered individualindividual namednamed DeniseDenise PillayPillay (formerly(formerly Govender)Govender) isis thethe faceface behindbehind photographyphotography companycompany Fotojeniq.Fotojeniq. DeniseDenise completedcompleted herher matricmatric inin thethe yearyear 20102010 andand thereafterthereafter accomplishedaccomplished herher tertiarytertiary educationeducation inin photography,photography, boostingboosting herher confidence in order to enhance her passion.confidence in order to enhance her passion. ‘Being an ambitious, dynamic force, I strive to‘Being an ambitious, dynamic force, I strive to encourage and empower females to believe in themselves.encourage and empower females to believe in themselves. ‘‘

A passion for photography

FotojeniQ Photography

InIn 2010,2010, DeniseDenise hadhad completedcompleted herher MatticMattic yearyear andand wentwent onon toto accomplishaccomplish herher tertiarytertiary educationeducation inin photography,photography, boostingboosting herher confidenceconfidence inin orderorder toto enhanceenhance herher passion.passion. ‘Being an ambitious,

‘Being an ambitious, dynamicdynamic force,force, II strivestrive toto encourageencourage andand empowerempower femalesfemales toto believebelieve inin themselves.themselves. ThroughThrough thethe lenslens ofof mymy life,life, II developeddeveloped a a passionpassion forfor pausingpausing life ’ slife ’ s nevernever repeatedrepeated moments. ’moments. ’ FromFrom a a youngyoung age,age, DeniseDenise sayssays thatthat sheshe discovereddiscovered herher interestinterest inin photographyphotography andand capturingcapturing eacheach momentousmomentous occasionoccasion becamebecame a a lifestyle.lifestyle. PhotographyPhotography hashas beenbeen Denise ’ sDenise ’ s passionpassion sincesince a a veryvery youngyoung age.age. ‘We all know the saying that ‘We all know the saying that practicepractice makesmakes perfect,perfect, II hadhad a a goodgood couplecouple ofof yearsyears beforebefore II jumpedjumped atat thethe opportunityopportunity andand beganbegan mymy journeyjourney whenwhen II waswas giftedgifted mymy firstfirst camera. ’camera. ’

‘The ‘The obsessionobsession forfor FotojeniQFotojeniQ PhotographyPhotography toto kickkick off,off, slowlyslowly evolvedevolved intointo oneone ofof thethe greatestgreatest accomplishmentsaccomplishments ofof mymy life. ’life. ’ InIn 20162016 FotojeniQPhotographyFotojeniQPhotography waswas born.born. TheThe manifestingmanifesting andand successsuccess ofof FotojeniQFotojeniQ PhotographyPhotography introducedintroduced itsits co-ownerco-owner MrMr LanceLance Pillay,Pillay, Denise ’ sDenise ’ s husband.husband. TheyThey specialisespecialise inin a a fewfew differentdifferent shoots.shoots. TheyThey dodo corporatecorporate events,events, birthdaybirthday parties,parties, weddings,weddings, cakecake smashes,smashes, babybaby showers,showers, bridalbridal showers,showers, andand familyfamily shootsshoots asas wellwell asas modelmodel portfolios,portfolios, PrePre weddingwedding shoots,shoots, engagementengagement shoots,shoots, productproduct photographyphotography andand studiostudio shoots.shoots.

About Knotted Kotton

AnotherAnother passionpassion that’sthat’s nearnear andand deardear toto Denise’sDenise’s heartheart isis KnottedKnotted Kotton.Kotton. a a satinsatin clothingclothing line,line, mainlymainly consistingconsisting ofof personalisedpersonalised satinsatin pjs,pjs, satinsatin scrunchies,scrunchies, satinsatin pillowpillow slipsslips andand robes.robes.

’It’It waswas bornborn inin a a moremore quieterquieter periodperiod duringduring CovidCovid 1919 inin JanuaryJanuary 2021.2021. EventsEvents hadhad beenbeen restrictedrestricted andand PhotographyPhotography togethertogether withwith mymy dayday toto dayday jobjob waswas temporarilytemporarily closedclosed for business.for business. ’ Knotted Kotton is made for everyone, they’ Knotted Kotton is made for everyone, they havehave theirtheir setset rangerange whichwhich areare pj's,pj's, robes,robes, scrunchiesscrunchies andand eyeeye masks.masks. TheyThey specialisespecialise inin satinsatin andand cottoncotton andand catercater forfor partyparty gifts,gifts, corporatecorporate gifting,gifting, bridalbridal showershower giftsgifts andand wedding favors.wedding favors. ‘We work with a skillful designer who we‘We work with a skillful designer who we areare blessedblessed with,with, MrsMrs Naidoo.Naidoo. SheShe handleshandles ourour personalisedpersonalised itemsitems andand KnottedKnotted KottonKotton isis a a hugehuge successsuccess becausebecause ofof her.her.

Believing in herself

InIn Denise’sDenise’s covercover girlgirl searchsearch entry,entry, herher motivationmotivation forfor enteringentering waswas centredcentred aroundaround believingbelieving inin herself.herself. WeWe askedasked herher howhow sheshe achievedachieved thisthis andand whatwhat adviceadvice sheshe hashas for other struggling with it.for other struggling with it. ‘The first step I took into‘The first step I took into believingbelieving inin myselfmyself waswas lovingloving myselfmyself confidently.confidently. LovingLoving mymy flawsflaws andand mymy passionpassion toto makemake anythinganything II touch,touch, turnturn intointo somethingsomething I’mI’m proudproud of.of. TurningTurning anyany negativenegative intointo a a positive lesson.positive lesson. ‘‘

StartingStarting mymy dayday offoff withwith a a motivationalmotivational quotequote andand livingliving throughthrough thatthat mottomotto forfor thethe dayday helpedhelped meme programmeprogramme mymy mindmind intointo positivepositive thinkingthinking nono mattermatter howhow difficultdifficult thethe situation.situation. NeverNever bebe afraidafraid toto bebe bravebrave andand bold.bold. WomenWomen empowermentempowerment startsstarts fromfrom within,within, empoweringempowering yourselfyourself toto push your limits and breaking boundaries.push your limits and breaking boundaries. ’’ YouYou mustmust bebe thethe changechange youyou wishwish toto seesee inin thethe worldworld –Mahatma–Mahatma GandhiGandhi

Denise and Lance ’ s love story started with a random friend request that changed both their lives forever. ‘Cliché as it is, Lance and I met on Facebook in 2016 on the 14th July! A friendly request turned into Lance booking me for his mums surprise birthday celebration. After building a strong and beautiful friendship, our paths seemed to grow into one. ’ Denise says that she and Lance were strong individuals on their own and once they started dating in January 2017, they became a power couple and a force to be reckoned with.

‘In the past 5 years Lance and I have not fought with each other. We ' re proud of this accomplishment, as a smooth sailing relationship needs communication and empathy. ’ She says that communicating with each other without judgment is key to making a great team. ‘While dating we always lived by the saying, "Never go to bed angry " and after almost 2 months of marriage, I can happily say we ' ve survived! 2 Months down, forever to go!’

Both Lance and Denise share the duties equally to make FotojeniQ Photography and Knotted Kotton run smoothly. This includes working late nights on weekdays and full time on the weekends. They created their life ’ s perfect picture on the 30th October 2021, bringing much joy and celebration to both their families.

‘Our relationship is summed up with Subject, composition and light. Subject - Lance and I as individuals and as a union have been the subject of interest of our divine creator ’ s perfect picture. Composition – Lance and I have been designed with integrated settings to enhance and correct, to filter and protect, to colour anvd contrast. Light - Our lives have omitted the right amount of light at the right time to be part of life ’ s perfect picture. ’

The newlyweds had been gifted a 2 day getaway at Umhlanga, for some good rest and relaxation. They opted for a post honeymoon at Rain Farm, Ballito and the beautiful scenic Granny Mouse in Midlands. Their last trip was to Monte Casino in Johannesburg..

Whather you would like to book an exciting photoshoot or find out more about Denise, get in touch with her: Facebook : @fotojeniqphotography Instgram : @denisefotojeniqphotography Number : 0726745743 Email : fotojeniqphotography@gmail.com