Home town: Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia
Occupation: Photographer for Fairfax Media’s The Illawarra Mercury. Which is a the regional newspaper in New South Wales.
How long have you been surfing? Since I was 7 years old.
Which surfers do you admire? I admire my best friends Sarah Baum and Skye Burgess. They compete on the WQS and are always teaching me new things and giving me advice. They are not only great friends but amazing athletes and competitors. So I definitely look up to them.
Why do you think there is so few female photographers?
Well it’s just like surfing, it is male dominated, where women really have to step it up to get recognised. Water photography is quite physically demanding, and to get a good shot you have to be out in quite good conditions which can get quite intimidating. For myself surfing and taking photos are my biggest passions in life, and I am lucky enough to have been quite successful in combining the two.
Why did you choose photography over any other medium, what inspired you?
I chose photography because I was bad at everything else at school. Photography was the one thing that kept me driven. I got to goto all these cool places because I was the kid that was always taking photos. I love looking back at all the places I’ve been too and who I experienced certain moments with. It think keeping myself motivated, driven and happy is my inspiration. I basically wanted to go out and do fun things with my friends and my images are a culmination of that …just doing it because it makes me happy.
When and how did you get into surf photography?
For as long as I can remember I was always the kid taking photos at every event. Whenever I was somewhere I was taking photos and documenting life pretty much.
Which people are stoked about because I have all of these photos from basically every event of my life. I started taking photos of my friends surfing the shore breaks, and turns out I was good at it. So I stuck with it. But importantly, I try not to see photography as this super serious thing. At times it is rad to see it that way, but sometimes I think we forget maybe why we started taking photos in the first place. For me I wanted to go out and do wild things with my friends and have fun. So basically my images are a culmination of that…
Describe your style:
My style captures emotions, and I think we say a lot about who we are through our work. I want my audience to feel immersed in the action. But my main goal when taking a photo is to capture the emotion within the subject. Surfing is such a fun and happy thing to do, and that’s how I want it to be seen. Women are amazing beautiful human beings that withhold extreme talent, and that’s what I want to be noticed.
What do you like about shooting women?
I love shooting women because it means I can hang out with my friends and be happy. And I take photos of female surfing because I strongly feel that that they deserve more credit. I express meaning behind my photographs of the girls so they’re not just snaps of a point in time. I’m also trying to point out that women in the surf industry are over-sexualised and under-paid women, by showing that these girls can surf better than most of the bikini models on tour.
What type of cameras do you shoot with?
I shoot all my land images with my Canon 5D MKIII. I shoot my water images with my Canon 40D in a SPL water housing. Although, my van just got robbed and all of my camera gear was stolen, so I am starting from scratch, which is a good challenge.
Favourite photographer
My favourite photographer of all time is Chris Burkard from California. He goes to these extreme lengths and captures these breath taking photographs. I’ve seen nothing like it. He captured my attention a few years ago when he did a surf trip to Norway. I have all of those pictures hung up in my van. He adventures to all of these seemingly unpopulated locations around the world and takes these photographs that I can’t even comprehend.
What’s your goals?
My goal was to work for my home town’s regional newspaper as a photographer, and I have since achieved that dream. I take photos of new stories, breaking news stories and of people in need. But my ultimate ambition is to become a world renown women’s surf photographer. If I could make a living taking photos of women’s surfers, I would be the happiest girl in the world.
Which situation do you wish you could have photographed?
I wish I could have photographed… Batman killing The Joker in The Dark Knight.
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