Thirty-six years ago Amanda was running a charter boat and taking photos of the BVI as a hobby. “I have so many great memories of Virgin Gorda Yacht Harbour as the centre of the island back then. We stopped there during every charter, it was always full of boats – The Yacht Harbour was a tourist destination in itself” she says fondly.
Son Daniel arrived a few years later and after taking portraits of him and his friends, the hobby turned serious and Amanda’s photography business, Virgin Portraits, began in the year 2000. Soon she was the go-to wedding photographer for high-end resorts in the BVI, including Little Dix Bay in Virgin Gorda.
In 2003, Amanda began her journey as a retailer, partnering with painter Lisa Gray. They opened The Gallery in one of the oldest wooden buildings on Main Street in Road Town. Amanda’s landscape photography was popular with charter guests to take home as a memento of their BVI experience. Working out a robust system for shipping the pieces to them back home, they never looked back.
Within three years, both Lisa and Amanda’s businesses were ready to flourish on their own, so Amanda found a new space further along Main Street and the first Allamanda Gallery was born.
From that moment, (along with my son Daniel), Allamanda Gallery has steered my life,” says Amanda. In 2012 the business expanded further with a store at Top of The Baths. “It felt very natural to open that store, because so much of my work was centred in Virgin Gorda – a little piece of my heart has always been on the island” she says with a smile.
Amanda continued to innovate her product line, using her photographic collection to design and create products featuring her iconic images. “There is something for everyone at The Allamanda Gallery. It’s important to me that there is an item to purchase for all budgets” she says.
In 2014, Amanda moved from Main Street to a larger space at the Cyril B. Romney Tortola Pier Park where she was a foundation tenant. When the hurricanes of 2017 devastated the BVI and tourism was lost for a year, Amanda was forced to close the Virgin Gorda store and so began a story of survival for The Allamanda Gallery.
When the islands had almost recovered from the hurricanes, the pandemic struck in 2020, resulting in closed borders for the BVI and eventually forcing the closure of Allamanda Gallery at the Pier Park. Allamanda Gallery had survived two category five hurricanes, a pandemic and a total of eight store fit-outs” Amanda says.
Since this time, Allamanda Gallery has been operating from Tortola’s Soper’s Hole Marina (Frenchman’s Cay), her gallery there has gradually expanded and is thriving today. “Seven years after Irma, I’m so excited to reopen in Virgin Gorda and look forward to being based at the Yacht Harbour where I have many memories of my boating days”.
Make sure you stop by Allamanda Gallery at Soper’s Hole Marina or Virgin Gorda Yacht Harbour where Amanda continues to innovate and is excited to launch many more new and creative products.
