Lights, camera, selfie: Sisters-in-law open new business ‘Selfie Suite’ in Macon
The perfect selfie? There’s an art to that.
It’s an art that sisters-in-law Katora Moody and Angelyca Russell are hoping to teach Maconites through their recently opened downtown business, “Selfie Suite.”
It’s a unique concept: patrons can visit various rooms with different themes to capture photos, boomerangs and videos along with their family members and friends. The rooms, decorations and props are the result of Moody and Russell’s hard work, along with some heavy lifting from their families. The sisters-in-law wanted Macon to have an experience that was fun for the whole family.
“Macon needed something like this, and our goal is to make sure people showcase their personality and their true self,” Moody said.
She added customers won’t have to worry about trying to be models at the exhibit: they’re there to help motivate people to push themselves to get out of their comfort zones.
They gained inspiration for each themed room from trending topics, other selfie museums, Instagram photos, and research. The sisters-in-law put their personal twist into every room, and plan to change the museum depending on seasons, holidays and inspiration, so each visit will be different.
“We are changing the rooms, and we are bringing back taking pictures during the holidays,” Russell said. “We plan on coming up with new ideas, because when you come back, it’s going to be different every time.”
Hard work
Opening the new business during the pandemic wasn’t easy; finding supplies was difficult, and both had to balance being new moms and running other businesses. But Moody and Russell found what they needed and, with the help of their families, built the studio at 3706 Mercer University Drive, Suite 3.
“We did not hire anyone to create the props, paint, or install anything,” Moody explained, “We are fortunate enough to to have husbands and family members who came in to help.”
The most popular rooms are the all pink candy and money room where customers can pose with a candy shop theme and throw money all over the place.
All of the rooms in ‘Selfie Suite’ are handcrafted and creatively captured by the sisters who went through multiple newspapers for specific articles highlighting Black excellence to glue on the wall for the newsroom, glued CDs on the walls of the disco room while hanging the sparkling balls up, created the sunflower phone booth from scratch, spray painted the ceilings and individually picked and glued flowers for the backdrop.
“This is us, this is our outlet and what drives us, this is for Macon and for the city,” Moody said “When the ring light is on you, you are the spot light!”
Coronavirus safety protocols
Selfie Suite is following CDC COVID-19 protocols with appointments only to purchase a ticket, temperature checks at the door, a limit of six people per session and sanitation of each booth after use.
People can go to Selfie Suite by first purchasing a ticket on their website. Tickets are $30 for ages 13 and up, $20 for ages 4 to 12, and free for kids under 4-years-old.