Freelancers: body and mind – in pictures

Peter Chown, winner of the world championships and the natural Mr Universe – bodybuilder and personal trainer. ‘There isn’t really any money in bodybuilding. The way I have earned money through my physique is through some media work, like photoshoots, music videos, commercials and also through my personal training business. A bodybuilding career can last a long time as long as you can stay healthy and keep injuries at bay. You can be competing in your 60s and still look good, so it’s different to a lot of sports where you are pretty much finished at a high level by your mid-30s’ Photograph: Sam Peach and Tora Davidson

Amravati Mitchell – feng shui expert. ‘I love doing feng shui consultations as I enjoy the contact with my clients. I help them refine their goals and to get their home or working place to support them in achieving those things important to them. Feng shui is wonderful for bringing together the personal growth and healing side of my work with the more creative side of my personality. I find it very interesting to go into people’s living and working spaces and it is amazing how much their spaces tell me about the people themselves’ Photograph: Sam Peach and Tora Davidson

David Bradley ‘The Curious Confectioner’ – confectioner and artist. ‘I’d enjoyed making delicious food and beautiful objects for many years and one day I found myself wondering what would happen if I merged my love for the two. I’ve always been an artist who’s enjoyed exploring the many possibilities of expression. Working as The Curious Confectioner has enabled me to engage with the material world in a much more playful, fun and delicious way. For me, the artist and confectioner both inform each other and much of the magic lies where the two converge’ Photograph: Sam Peach and Tora Davidson

Rosie Lovell, cafe owner and cookery writer. ‘I sacrificed my social life a lot when I first started my business. The shop always comes before everything. I imagine it’s a bit like when you have a child. But I draw the line at love. I wouldn’t sacrifice that for anything’ Photograph: Sam Peach and Tora Davidson

Gordon Matthews (left) and Darren Stamford – cognitive hypnotherapists. ‘My main drive is to help people. I believe that is the best a person can get. I also love what I do – take for example someone who comes to see me for low self-confidence and this is blighting their lives because it is stopping them from doing what they want to do. After three or four sessions they leave me feeling a lot better and ready to do what they want to do. To be a good cognitive hypnotherapist you need to be able to find something to love about all your clients’ (Gordon Matthews) Photograph: Sam Peach and Tora Davidson

Susie Lau ‘Style Bubble’ – fashion blogger. ‘I blog about my take and experiences of fashion so it can be anything from covering new designers, shop and exhibition openings, trend observations as well as my own personal outfits that make up Style Bubble. I now work full-time on the blog but I also work on different projects with brands that basically extends what I do on the blog to a different context as well (such as modeling in Gap’s Christmas campaign or styling Dr Marten’s lookbook) as well as blogging on my own site and managing its advertising its advertising/commercial opportunities, which is basically where my money comes from’ Photograph: Sam Peach and Tora Davidson

Kathryn Reynolds – interfaith minister. ‘People are often sceptical to religion as it has a bad reputation at the moment, but if you ask anyone that has worked with me they will tell you that it’s not about religion, it’s about spirituality and the knowledge that we are all connected’ Photograph: Sam Peach and Tora Davidson

Bert Stemarthe – personal trainer. ‘When I think back to the time I joined this industry and what I expected of it, I’d definitely say that I underestimated the mental application that is required. I don’t mean the science of anatomy and physiology – that bit’s the easiest of all. I mean handling the psychology of all those personalities, idiosyncrasies, goals and even fears of the individuals who place their trust and their health in my hands’ Photograph: Sam Peach and Tora Davidson

Philena Bruce – psychic and palmist. ‘There are people that are very sceptical about what I do. Especially middle-class England and people stuck in their ways, with very fixed opinions about what is what, and how things work. Barristers, lawyers, bankers are particularly sceptical, not all of them, but some. As to why? I believe they are afraid, that is afraid of finding out that their belief in how the world works is incorrect. These people like to feel in control of things, to feel safe – discovering something outside the box, as it were, threatens that’ Photograph: Sam Peach and Tora Davidson

Lincoln Ascott – shaman. ‘Anthropologists would say that shamans are the healers, and in some cases, the diviners of their communities, bringing their people and their land into balance, into a healed state; and that shamanism is possibly the oldest profession in the world. The drive for what I do is found in the knowledge, wisdom and love I have found in these peoples, of mostly South American traditions, who hold these ancient technologies that have been passed down through the lineage of earth keepers, wisdom keepers, and star keepers. It is a drive to keep these traditions alive, and to wake up and remember whom we are’ Photograph: Sam Peach and Tora Davidson