What began as a drive home from a jewelry shoot has become a place where other people’s ideas can take shape.
In 2021, sisters Jamie and Samantha were renting a photography studio in North Phoenix for their jewelry line. Each trip back to the East Valley reinforced a feeling: the area needed a creative space with more variety, one that felt like a city loft and welcomed people beyond professional photographers.
Their own shoots offered clues. They found themselves thinking as much about backgrounds, props, and textures as the jewelry they had come to photograph. A trip to Paris in 2022 sharpened the vision. The sisters were struck by its architecture and the details that could change how a room felt. They returned knowing they wanted to bring some of that feeling home.
By 2023, they were searching for a location. The space they found was unexpected. On the way to another showing, they spotted a FOR LEASE sign at Supima. The building was more than twice the size they had imagined, but standing inside it, they could see possibilities that a smaller studio would not have allowed.
Those possibilities became Le Station in Tempe: a photography and creative space with room for events and a hair salon. Samantha, a hairstylist who had operated her own salon suite for eight years, could bring that part of her work into the shared vision. Now, someone can get a blowout before a shoot or an event without leaving the building.
Jamie and Samantha worked with an interior design team to make the studio feel welcoming and distinctive. Bold burgundy anchors the space, inviting visitors to look closer. The aim was for people to walk in and want to create, even if they had never booked a studio before.
“We built it to be accessible to anyone, not just photographers,” they say. For a small business owner who needs content, a photographer testing a new direction, or someone celebrating a milestone, the space offers different settings to respond to without requiring every detail to be planned in advance.
Its Tempe location also makes gathering easier for people across the Valley. There is room to bring in clothing racks, set up for an event, and meet other creatives. Jamie and Samantha hope the connections made here will lead to ideas and opportunities beyond the studio.
Looking around Le Station today, Jamie and Samantha think of the faith that carried them through the uncertain moments and the people who believed in their vision. Now, they get to watch others walk through the doors with an idea of their own and leave with something real.
“We built it to be accessible to anyone, not just photographers”