Where it all began..
I don't really remember deciding to become a photographer. It happened slowly.
When my boys were little, we'd head out with no real plans. We'd chase the pretty light before sunset, hike through the bush, explore the beach or find somewhere new, like waterfalls or coves. They just thought we were going on another fun adventure with Mum.
Back then, the three of us lived in a little retro fibro shack a few streets back from the beach in Husky. It was small and old, but I loved it. It felt like us.
Most mornings started the same way. We'd wander down to the beach before school, the boys would jump in for a swim, then we'd head home where they'd sit on the front steps eating breaky with salty hair, bare feet and dirty knees and then go off to school. Looking back now, the photos from those mornings are some of my favourite, because it reminds me of how those times felt.
Maybe that's why I'm drawn to photographing families the way I do.
I grew up much the same. Skating with my brothers, building ramps in the front yard, checking the surf with my stepdad and spending endless days outside. Life revolved around the sun, saltwater and family.
When I became a mum, I realised I was trying to give my boys that same feeling. I taught them to skate and ride their bikes. We'd chase sunsets, collect shells, climb over rocks and spend whole afternoons with nowhere else to be. My camera was always somewhere nearby, quietly becoming part of those adventures.
Looking back now, I don't notice what we were wearing or whether everything looked perfect. I notice who they were. The dirty knees, the gappy smiles, the way they reached for my hand without thinking. All the little things I didn't know I'd miss one day. Somehow, those little boys are taller than me now.
These days they're teenagers with lives of their own, but every now and then I find one of those old photos and just for a moment we're back in our little retro shack, racing to the beach before school.
