So, now a bit about me…
I can remember saying at school I would love to be a photographer… and then again at University, when studying psychology, my dad asked what I wanted for my 21st and I said… ” a very manual camera”. Back then, film photography was a very expensive hobby – so off to be a Youth Worker/ Family Counsellor I went – for about 8 years (working with kids and families was something special indeed, and I learnt so much about children from this amazing experience). But then I had the urge to spread my wings and head over to the UK for a year – where I ended up spending the next 14 years. Travelling to some of the most amazing places in the world (India, Turkey, Egypt, Jordan, Italy, France, Sweeden, Iceland, Scotland, Morocco, etc etc etc), and boom, I had another camera in my hand… I was now working in health as a change manager, which was amazing, speaking with the public and clinicians and working out how we could do things better. But my heart was always… always about chasing those images of connection, light and love… I lost my mum when I was 20, and my dad when I was 32, and then we somehow managed to lose all of the photos of our childhood – leaving me with about 20 of my entire childhood. Anyone who has lost a parent knows this is another huge wound not to have those images to look back on. So, I decided that what I wanted to do was create the most beautiful images – natural, organic and authentic, for families to be able to look back on. And then I saw this amazing video by Shane Koyczan called Remember how we forgot, and it just touched my heart and spurned me on to follow my heart in life…
So – here I am. Working in a job I love, connecting with families to capture photographs of the simplicity of life and love – of connection and those perfect little intimacies. I love to shoot family sessions, including the concept approach called the “Day in the Life” series – which are galleries of families right here, right now, capturing the moments of an entire day. Almost like freezing those moments in time – so they can be looked back on – because we all know how fast families grow and change. I also love capturing new babies either at First Glimpse sessions, within 48 hours of being born and hopefully capturing those first meetings with siblings and grandparents and friends – just magical. Don’t forget Newborn Photography, those precious moments of purity and innocence… Pretty much any time there is a story unfolding – I am your girl!!
So, as much as I would love to meet you, please feel free to read and look at some of my pictures that make up me… and then get in touch. I would love to hear from you and see what special moments I can capture for you so in years to come, you can look back on them, and feel what you felt, and remember what we forgot… to me, that is priceless.
Yep, this is my Kindy portrait circa 1976… and yes, this little beauty made it on to all the family’s mantle’s thanks to that special little grip showcasing my undies…
Meet my parents. This is Carol and Bruce on their Wedding day back in 1970. They had that young, crazy, but strong love… They lived a very “Romancing the Stone” kind of love affair, which must have been exhausting!! My mum had a fierce heart and loved deeply with it! My dad was the kind of man that walked in a room and drew all the energy to him – he could make you feel safe (when he wanted to). Like I say, they had this crazy kind of love, but when she was dying of cancer at age 42, he was there.
Remembering what we forgot… It’s hard to believe I was ever this small, but I’ve always had a love for the puppies.
Anyone who grew up in the 70’s and 80’s has one of these sweet little babies lying around. Unfortunately we lost the box with all of our childhood photos, so I only really have about 20 or so pictures of me as a child/ baby, or with my parents (and having lost both parents young – this is a raw pain for me, and why I am so passionate about making sure families have, not only loads of pictures, but have them available to touch, feel and look at). Alas… this ‘Portrait’ is one of the few pictures I do have… I think it was taken just before my little sister came along, and makes me laugh because we all look a little ‘stiff’ (and I love how my mum is holding my arms down)… my memory of our life at this time would be climbing all over our dad, and being tickled with his massive man hands and hard fingers.
One of the last family photographs with all of us in it. This one is special for that reason alone.
My poor mum… I remember walking through the shopping centre in summer, after being in the pool all day, with mum trying to buy us our school books, and we come across the Shopping Centre Portrait people… I had dripped chocolate icecream down my shirt, so my little sisters head was strategically placed to hide that smudge… It’s funny the things you remember when you see a photo…
Family vacation in Fiji in 1985, but no pictures of my mum (as she was the one taking them all)… As a grown woman, the fact I only have maybe 5 photos with my mum kinda breaks my heart… you may not like photos, but your kids will always treasure them…please get in the shots!!
My beautiful mum at 40. It’s hard to believe that this flame of a woman died 2 years later… My sisters and I think of her often (as any motherless daughter thinks of their mum)… I would do anything to just sit and have a coffee with her…
My mum died whilst I was in my last year of Uni (Studying Psychology and Sociology), when I was 20. I came back to live in Queensland to be near my little 14 year old sister and I worked as a family counsellor for 8 years before taking off to the UK when my sister was 21, to get me some travel adventure going on… It’s one thing our parents instilled in us… get busy Travelling!! So this literally blew the mind of my dad, who could not believe the ‘love of his loins’ had become both a champion of left wing causes and had travelled to the birth place of communism…Russia…
An inexperienced photographers dream.. An empty Red Square, Moscow, taken at -20C on one of those APS cameras (between film and digital)… it was freezing but amazing… I remember my friend Jase and I walked past the old KGB building, and whipped out our camera’s and shot of a couple of shots REAL fast – Russia hadn’t really been open to tourists long before we were fortunate to travel there, so we were a little nervous. His job was to learn Cyrillic (mostly signs, so we knew how to get off trains, find exits etc.) and mine was to learn basic Russian… We drank a LOT of vodka on this trip (sometimes it was £1 a bottle, sometimes it was £30 – depending who served you???), and found ourselves having long conversations with the freindliest Russian folk (who had about as much English as I had Russian)…I missed christmas that year
Turning 30 sailing in Croatia. This picture was taken on my trusty Canon film SLR… I love the metaphor of ‘Looking out onto life’… it kinda fits for me somehow, sometimes.
Me and a very random Koala Bear in Stuttgart, Germany, watching Australia get through to the final rounds of the World Cup… It was a huge fun night…
I love this photo. This was taken by another gorgeous friend (an old flat mate from London – who I do not keep in contact with regularly enough for my liking)… I was in Sydney for NYE, and these awesome folk took me around Sydney the next day, getting this epic shot of Bondi Beach in the background…”Oh Ged’day…”
My ode to the book “The Orange Girl” written by one of my favourite authors, Jostein Gaarder. It’s about a love story between parents – and I was reading this, after a love story gone wry, and I was alone in a bar in Switzerland, drinking the most expensive glass of red ever, and tears were pouring down my face (he is an epic writer to be able to do that to me)… and then my dad called from Australia (back when it was expensive to do so), and I was telling him this story, and even though he was re-married, we spoke about my mum – and his love for her! He died unexpectedly a few months later, and at the one year anniversary of his death, I made a journey to Seville in Spain (partly where the book was placed), to sit amongst the orange tress… Technically, this picture is a nightmare.. but for me, it’s a very special moment.
A selfie with my little cousin. She is totally adorable and continues the tradition of the selfie to this day. I like my eyebrows here (not so much my sunburnt face, which always leads to a freckle moustache)…
I so wish I bought this amazing hat!! A friend and I went to Iceland one January in the hope of seeing the Northern Lights – we were not disappointed – but it was seriously, the coldest I have ever been… I have a great story about 2 aussie girls hiring a sedan with a sat nav and driving around this cold little island… Ask me about it when we meet.
One of my favourite photos of me, taken by my friend Mei Wong. This is me, looking out over the Wadi Rum Desert (Jordan) at dusk… representing two of the things I love the most, travelling and photography – this view was just amazing.
The Taj Mahal and Me and Everyone else… I left Australia in 2001, with a plan to live in the UK for one year, enough time to save and go to India for a few months… Well, 10 years later, whilst still living in the UK, I make it! I spent 5 months travelling this amazing country – and loved every single second of it!!! The colours, the smells, the kindness, the smiles… One day I will go back and take more pictures…
The Beauty of India. The women of India are amazing!! They collect the fuel for heating/ cooking and walk for miles to collect water. The look after the live stock, cook and feed the children, use every piece of clothing to keep the family warm. And when someone like me visits, with my 20 kgs back pack and camera bag, the give me a sweet smile and a gentle head wobble, and pity me for my need to carry so much ‘stuff’!!! They are amazing.
Kids In India… Don’t have much in way of material things (see how an old jumper is being used as a hat), but my goodness do they live rich lives. They know how to laugh and have moments…..
The natural grace of my paint seller…
India Paint buying guide… My heart swells at the beauty of the simple things, that are just so extravagant. This was how you bought paint!! No plastic – you used beautiful old metal carvings, and picked from these amazing natural colours… amazing!
This little guy is Louis – and he is my sunshine!!! I adopted him when he was 11 months old in London, and we lived some awesome adventures travelling around the UK camping – including Wales, Devon, Birmingham. Being part of my family, of course he received a business class ticket when I decided to move back to Australia. He makes me want to be the person he thinks I am…
A new chapter in Australia is being written…. I hope you will be part of it.