Gratitude, Love, Beauty, Light, Nature, Travel, Experience, Connection.
As you may have gathered I photograph people for a living. Even when I’m not working I’m still constantly watching the light and am fascinated by human beings. I’ve shot hundreds of weddings in my years and won all sort of fancy international awards but have chosen to focus on portraits. Seeing someones face light up when they see a photo that I’ve taken of them is one of my most favourite things and I really believe that photography has the power to influence energy and self perception. My Fine Art Degree provides a lens through which I tell stories with my camera and helps me express the way in which I experience the world.
If you hover over the images below you’ll find a few fun facts about me followed by some interview questions. Please feel free to drop me a mail if you would like to ask me anything else.
Tell us
your story.
How did you
get into photography?
I went to art school to become a painter but I totally fell in love with photography and printing my own photos. There is something so magical about watching black and white pictures slowly apparition onto a page in the red pungent darkness that is a darkroom. To this day I still find photography to be an enchanting medium, as you never really know what you’re going to discover when you lift the camera to your eyes!
After graduating with my Degree I lived in London and worked in bars, looked after grannies, painted backdrops and made sandwiches to fund my backpacking trips to third world countries.
I spent 3 months sleeping in hammocks in Mexico, I’ve hiked in the Himalayas, bought beautiful fabrics in Guatemala, snorkelled in the azure waters of Australia, partied under the full moon in Thailand and watched the sunrise over Angkor Wat in Cambodia. It was during these years that I fell in love with people watching and I do believe that travel has been my greatest education!
Eventually South Africa beckoned me home. From that point I went back to Natal Technikon to get a more practical grip of the technical aspects of Photography. I’ve also assisted some awesome photographers and artists who helped me hugely during my career.
During my time at tech and for a couple of years after finishing my Photography Diploma I worked primarily as an artist making mixed media work where I combined painting with photography. I had a number of exhibitions during this time and even though art was definitely my focus I still took lots of pictures.
Throughout all of these years I had people asking me to shoot weddings but I was rather reluctant to call myself a wedding photographer, as I believed there was a certain stigma attached to it. I started looking abroad and realised that my creative approach to wedding photography was in line with what was happening overseas.
I was blown away by the inspiring wedding images being created internationally and realised that wedding photography really offered me the chance to shoot in a documentary style and also make creative images.
Get to know me
How did you transition from weddings to portraiture?
My decade and more as a wedding photographer was a giant adventure, a stressful one at times but I got to travel the world and meet so many special people. The worldwide lockdown of 2020 offered me the chance to transition into a new way of approaching photography and I really needed the change. I now work from a place of purpose. Taking portraits of people gives me the opportunity to make a difference in peoples lives by showing them a version of themselves they wouldn’t have seen before. I take my clients on a process before I pick up my camera and this can be hugely uplifting. Portrait photography gives me the opportunity to be creative and tell stories with my camera but it also fuels my fascination with people and satisfies the artist within me. I love to create beauty but also show my clients the beauty that I see in them. I believe “my creativity can heal myself and others.” (thanks Julia Cameron for the quote)
How long have you been a photographer for?
I am heading towards two decades as a professional photographer now.
What else do you photograph?
I love to haul my water housing out of the cupboard and head to warm waters and take my camera for a swim below the surface! Underwater photography is a very part time hobby.
You are based in Cape Town, but often travel around South Africa to shoot. Why not stay in one city?
I have a gypsy’s heart and I love to travel and experience new things, new people, and new scenery. Any chance I get to travel I grab it! One of the greatest things about my job is that I get to see so many incredible places. I’ve shot in fancy hotels, farms, mountain tops, tropical islands, first and third world countries and family homes. They’re all interesting to me. I love my home but I also love coming back to my home if you know what I mean.
Where has your work taken you to?
All over South Africa, Mauritius, Zambia, Botswana, Tanzania, Namibia, Europe, India and the Caribbean.
You have traveled alot over the years, where is your favorite country?
Wow, that’s hard to answer. I love the culture and the hustle and bustle of big cities like London and Paris but I get most excited about third world countries like Indonesia, India and Guatemala. I have done a lot of backpacking in my time and I must say my favourite memories involve whizzing around in scooters in Asia, exploring ancient temples in Central America and surfing uncrowded waves in Madagascar. There is something so magical about going to a place that you have never been to and I believe that traveling has been my greatest education.
You have so many career accolades to be proud of. Can you tell us about some of your favorite achievements?
Thanks very much. I’m very grateful for some amazing opportunities like being profiled on South Africa’s TV show Top Billing. I was also included in a book called Women on Women, A History of Women Photographers in South Africa. I’ve received a number of Fearless awards for some of my wedding images. Fearless Photographers is an international organisation that represents creative wedding photographers who think out of the box. They run competitions that receive thousands of entries from the top wedding photographers in the world so I am thrilled to have been honoured with a number of awards. I won a number of South African awards including the Admired in Africa Photographer of the year of 2013 and 2016. I was placed on the SLR Lounge top 150 wedding photographers in the world list, and also the top 150 international Fearless wedding photographers of all time list in 2016. In 2018 I was included in the the SWP’s top 100 Wedding Photographers in the world list along with Nicolas Purcel Top 100 list. 2019 saw me on the top 100 wedding photographers in the world list by Fearless Photographers plus the top South African Wedding Photographer. In 2020 I was placed on the list for the top 100 international photographers by the Worlds Best Wedding Photos. After that I took a break from entering competitions and I need to add that my biggest career accolade is a happy client!
How can people get
hold of you?
FOLLOW ME on SOCIAL MEDIA
