“Aura Photography” Studio Opens In The North Loop
Wonder what kind of aura you’re putting out into the world right now? The North Loop’s newest entrepreneur, Sophie Radvan, says she can show it to you in bright colors if you visit her photo studio, Vivid Violet Aura.
She’ll sit you in front of a plain backdrop, place your hands on a pair of sensors (measuring heart rate, pulse, moisture, etc.) and snap a quick Polaroid picture.
What you’ll come away with is an image showing you with a cloud of colors around your face (or body) and a chart explaining what those particular colors are supposed to signify.
“It’s a magnetic sphere,” she said. “The spiritual name is your aura. Scientific name: it’s the frequency or the vibration or the speed of your electromagnetic field. The human body, it’s all electricity, right?”
When she’s not doing this, Sophie is a fitness instructor at The Grind in the North Loop. She came up with the idea for this side business after getting her own aura photo taken last year and said it was a very moving experience.
“Listen, I always say, take what you believe, leave what you don’t,” she said. “Some people walk in here going, ‘bulls–t, bulls–t, bulls–t’. And some people walk in here going, ‘oh my God, I’m such a believer. I think this is so revolutionary for self-discovery, self-growth’. I never claimed that this will predict the future. That’s not my spiel. My spiel is that if you’re someone who values self-reflection, self-growth, if you believe in meditation, journaling, dream analysis, this is just another notch in your belt.”
For the past several months she’s been taking her camera gear to pop-ups and special events around Minneapolis, like Art-A-Whirl. But she decided she needed a more permanent, private space and found one inside the historic Sherwin-Williams building at 701 North 3rd Street.
“North Loop, I mean, it’s just where it’s at,” she said. “This is where the business is, this is where the community is, this is where I feel like a lot of explorative, open-minded people live.”
Her studio is available by appointment only, and here are the rates for her services.
By Mike Binkley, North Loop volunteer
