Creating images that speak as words.
I grew up in a rural area north of Auckland. As a child, art was my world. I would spend hours in my bedroom, or waiting patiently in the houses my mum would clean, writing, drawing, and later, photographing. Telling stories was my way to escape into other worlds, to communicate, and as a medium to make sense of the world. It was an extremely important part of my life that made me who I am today. My love for photography runs deeper than the visual, and into a reverence for the part that creating art can have in our healing. I try to share as much of this as I can through the work I do for others:
My love for storytelling led me to study cinematography and I worked in the fields of film and video for a time developing my eye, and found myself coming back to photography throughout.
When I was about 21, I stumbled upon my first festival, Prana, and from there discovered a love for capturing rich moments of emotion, joy and connection, that would unfold in these spaces.
These moments I would capture became memories people would cherish and look back on for years to come and this inspired me, and still inspires me to share - The power photography has to reflect back the truth, vulnerability and essense of others. To inspire, empower.
- To tell quiet and honest stories of the beautiful and fragile moments of life.
Personal Projects
My love really sits in curious and intriguing photos. Weird, not perfect. Something that sparks a feeling.
I’m intrigued by the power a single image or series of images can have to tell a story - and how each person will take away their own truth and meaning based on their unique view of the world. As an artist we have an intention, and then we put that out for interperetation, which is very vulnerable. We can all find ourselves reflected in the stories we see, just as we find reflections in each other.
The art that satisfies my creative soul is alive with subtle story, with room to interpret. People, as characters, reflecting different pieces of us all.
Usually my personal projects begin with a feeling or an idea, something I desire to communicate with the world from things I’m processing in my own life, or something I’m thinking about. When photographing people, every image is a collaboration. The person brings a whole world with them that we can see ourselves through.
Other times it’s fun to see what comes through and find the meaning later. There are always rich subtle messages and meanings to be found.
Some of the most interesting images I have created come from some of the most challenging times, especially when I was younger. When I found a way to process and communicate through art. When storytelling felt like a place to rest. I have a lot of reverence for the part creating can have in our healing.
