The darkroom is open
Adelaide, South Australia
Family photographer, cinema graduate, collector of old cameras, and the person on the beach lying flat in the sand to get the shot.
01 Europe, a lecture theatre
I grew up in Europe and went to university to study cinema. Big stories, big screens, a lot of very serious film students.
But the films that stayed with me were never the epics. They were the old home movies we watched in class: families on beaches, the picture jumping and flickering, people who had no idea they were being remembered.
02 A wedding, late afternoon
After uni I started photographing weddings, and I still love them. But at every wedding I found myself with the kids: the flower girl asleep under a table with one shoe off, the cousins racing around the dance floor.
Children don’t pose and they don’t care about their good side. They’re the most honest people in any room, and photographing them is my favourite thing in the world.
03 Port Willunga, now
The light, the space, the way Australian families live outdoors. I now live a few minutes from Port Willunga beach, and most of my evenings end at the old jetty posts.
I photograph families mostly on digital, always with a roll of film in my bag, and a Super 8 camera for the home movies. It’s everything I learned in film school, pointed at the people who matter most.
Why "Ladybird"?
All over Europe, a ladybird landing on you means good luck. You make a wish before she flies away.
In German she's the Glückskäfer, the lucky beetle. In Turkish she's uğur böceği, the luck bug. Here in Australia every kid knows her, and every kid wants to hold her. Small, bright, a bit cheeky, and a sign that something good is on its way. That felt exactly right for photographing families.
Look closely at the logo: her spots are arranged like the windows of a Super 8 reel.
What I believe
Real smiles come from real moments. I create the moments and let the smiles take care of themselves.
I follow them. If your toddler wants to dig a hole for twenty minutes, we photograph the hole.
Breakfast, bath time, the walk to the beach. In twenty years, these are the pictures you will look for.
Most of your gallery is digital. The film frames are the ones that end up framed on the wall.
The light in your kitchen, the marks on the doorframe, the couch everyone fights over. It belongs in the frame.
In the bag
A digital camera, a 35mm camera, a medium format camera and a Super 8. Plus snacks for the kids, a towel and a lot of patience.
Let's make something