Before The Storm

Wow. Hello!

Where did those last two weeks go?

I honestly can't tell you what I've been spending my time on because I've just been SO busy. Everything is flying past me in a flurry of red and green. 

I've had a full diary since the beginning of this month and now I'm finding myself, a week before Christmas eve, with absolutely none of my Christmas shopping done and a computer filled with shoots I'm working on.

Last Monday I shot a few portfolio images for the lovely Johanna who I was lucky enough to go to school with. I always get really excited when old school friends contact me to take some photos of them. As a photographer, I sort most people I meet in life into two categories: people I'd like to photograph as models and people who I would like to photograph because they're just genuinely nice or interesting.

Summer by the Seaside

My favourite thing about summer by the sea is the fact that it doesn't get too hot. I've spent the majority of my life welcoming summer each year with hot, sticky weather with nothing but a public pool to cool off in. Now that I live by the sea, I get to go to my favourite beaches to swim. Most of them are pretty quiet which is a huge bonus!

20

In the past, I've always spent a lot of time thinking about my birthday, what I wanted to do, who I was going to invite over etc. But after about 2011 that died down for a variety of reasons. This year I didn't really want anything over the top, I just wanted to have dinner with my family and Paul's. Unfortunately, life (and work) get in the way and sometimes the way you imagine things just cannot be.

So my plans changed. I guess it was life's way of welcoming me into a world where I wasn't a teenager.

RIP My Youth

Me and Dad hanging out at Mt. Buffalo

As the title of this suggests, today is the last day of me being a teenager. This is something I've been dreading since my birthday last year. It's not that I'm afraid of growing up, it's more about the complications of growing up; death, illness. This is so morbid, sorry.

As mentioned previously, I have a lot of existential crisis. These are mostly to do with the fact that I will never experience certain events in my life again, the regret that I didn't journal and document my youth more and the intense fear that I may never make it to all of the places I wish to visit in the world.

White Spaces

One of my favourite things about being a photographer is all of the different people and spaces I get to meet and work with. Each job, whether it be for money or pleasure, is a challenge. I sometimes forget how new I am to all of this (even though sometimes I feel quite seasoned) and how much I actually learn every time I shoot.

An Adventure To Lake Elizabeth

Yesterday five photographers ventured into the thick of the Otways to do a photo shoot.

I have had an idea since August that I've been sitting on for quite a while. At first I thought no one would be interested in participating but slowly I found more and more people who were willing to come along on some adventures and capture some magic.

Where Is This Even Going?

Get yourself a cup of tea (or coffee, if you're so inclined), a nice blanket to make you feel fuzzy inside and sit down, today I'm going to tell you a story. This story will be told through words, gifs, pictures taken by others (and some by me).

Almost Forever by Minna Gilligan

(All hail our 70s psychadelic mafia lord, Minna!)

Chuffed is probably the apt word to use when Minna approached me last week to take some photographs of her and her exhibition at the Windsor Hotel. Almost Forever was the perfect installation, juxtaposing the grown up vibes from one of the fanciest hotels in Melbourne with the crudeness and multicoloured world of a teenage girl. It was almost comical, walking into a room that you expected to be sophisticated and classy only to find the inner contents of a girl's imagination vomited up onto every surface. The space had all sorts of really cool knick knacks and hot pink glitter lava lamps. It was kind of an embodiment of the vibes and aesthetics that Minna uses in her work which was super awesome to experience. It felt personal, as though I was inside her own oasis!

C J S

Paul and I took a little trip up to Wangaratta over the winter holidays to hopefully catch some snow and meet up with family. I ended up organising a photo shoot with my gorgeous high school friend Cassy! She's just started getting into modelling and I can't wait to see how she progresses with her new little venture (I also can't wait to work with her again very soon!).

Alien Observer

A little while ago I did a photo shoot with my friend Kelly during our holidays. Kelly owns this pretty damn rad blog that you really need to check out and read right now! I really love her personal style and I'm kind of envious that I can't wander around looking like a mermaid pixie alien babe whenever I feel like it.

Red For Days

I'm so happy I can finally share these photos with you!

We got up one very cold morning a few weeks ago, hoping to catch the morning fog before it disappeared, however we didn't have much luck. Thankfully, we were graced with a beautiful sunny morning instead so I wasn't complaining too much.

Cheers to Ben and Daniel for helping out with this shoot.

Cait is wearing the La La Love! Frock by Alannah Hill from the AW 2012 collection aka: the dress I wore to my year 12 graduation. 

Scroll down to the bottom of this post to find out who won a copy of Alphabet Family Journal!

Virtual Concept

One of the best things about being a photographer is the opportunity to collaborate with other young people doing amazing things. I always feel incredibly empowered after working with local students and working with Carla is no exception to that.

I collaborated with Carla back in November last year, on my birthday no less. We photographed a series of images adhering to the brief, 'Street Savvy' as part of a competition associated with Cotton On. A couple of weeks ago, Carla asked me to photograph her garments as part of her semester assessment and naturally I couldn't say no.

Alphabet Family Journal

I've been trying to write this post for a week now but I just keep getting stuck on the whole idea of family. It starts off with a simple question that the magazine above, Alphabet Family Journal, attempts to answer, 'What is family?' After pondering what initially seems like a pretty straightforward answer, my thoughts become intensely philosophical which then results in an unwelcome existential crisis followed by a feeling of detachment from everything and everyone around me.

Cheery, right?

I'm Not Quite Sure What I'm Going To Call This Yet...

Last year I went through a sort of existential crisis. This isn't uncommon for me, I've been having existential crises since I was about five because I'm really curious about the afterlife and just about what everything means, dude. 

Anyway, it kind of just hit me that I will never get to experience high school again. Unless of course I return as a bored middle-aged art/english teacher, which I have in fact thought about because being a teacher seems easier than anything else I'm trying to do right now. 

And Now For Something Completely Different

(AGFA Isolette camera gifted by Paul for my sixteenth birthday. Taken in 2010)

I’ve been having in-between feelings about this blog here. I really enjoy sharing my work in this space but I wish I could share more; not just photographs but things that are important to me, work that inspires me, artists that I could interview.

I’ve been feeling very conflicted about where I want to take this space. We live in a very commercial world. Many of the blogs and instagram accounts I follow seem to be so…produced. Photographs and text are planned out to the most minute of details. Items are arranged into perfect showcases, bragging to you about all of the designer/luxury items you do not own and probably never will. Pretty girls roam about the world as though there is no money involved and pose in front of big city view windows to the level where everything just looks the same. It has gotten to the point where I feel like nothing is worth sharing unless it is perfectly crafted or contains the latest and greatest fashion/beauty trends and it feels like if you’re not a model or a very attractive man, you’re not worth paying attention to. It seems as though everyone subscribes to their own perfect niche and there is no room to break out of a preconceived category.

Recently

Hello! I'm sorry for the recent quietness, it feels like I've been buried under a pile of homework for a long, long time. I've still got exams, so bear with me over the next couple of weeks while I attempt to get those done.

I haven't been photographing people recently, which is strange and refreshing for me. I've been watching a lot of awesome documentaries that are inspiring me in all of the right ways and I'm learning so much. The photos that I'm sharing with you today are some images I've taken over the past couple of weeks.

Amanda

Sydney: Part 3!

On our second day, our morning consisted of eating lots of croissants and then walking them off through the rain. If we lived in Kings Cross, we would be having breakfast at the Bourke Street Bakery every single day. Their bread is amazing and baked fresh daily. The type of bread changes depending on the day of the week and they have an endless supply of sweet treats.

Sydney Part Two!

Yes. Hello. Sorry, what is the internet? I think I forgot about it while I was buried under a pile of essays and work.

Hi faithful followers, I'm surprised you're all still here, seeing as I haven't really posted in a month or so and seeing as things seem so disposable on the internet these days. Nevertheless, I'm back and posting and I'm sorry for my absence but I guess no amount of apologies will make up for my laziness.

Anyway, following on from my last post, we flew to Sydney to celebrate Paul's birthday last month. We woke up early, anticipating the idea that we would be in an entirely different state in just a few hours.

Sydney Part One: The Quay

If I could sum up our trip to Sydney in one word, it would be 'food'. 

Paul is 20!

Today is Paul's 20th birthday! We started off the day with a surprise pancake birthday cake for breakfast. My entire family stood in my bedroom singing Paul 'Happy Birthday' in their pyjamas at 6.30 this morning, waking Paul up. I don't think he really comprehended what was actually happening until I came back with three chocolate chip pancakes topped with Maggie Beer ice cream. 

Teen Blues

At the end of January, I got together with Andrea, a pal from high school, to create some suburban magic in the street I used to live in when I first moved to Geelong. I was feeling particularly angsty around the times these were taken and I wanted to embody my emotions in someone who has a killer style and fabulous make up skills.

I've been waiting to share these forever because I really enjoy this set of images. We submitted them to Rookie a few months ago and although we got an amazingly enthusiastic response from them initially (I kind of screamed haha) we didn't hear anything back after subsequent emails, so I thought it was high time that I shared them here. 

Thank you to Andrea for being the fabulous model. She even did her own make up and styling. I was super impressed!

This Is What Happens When You Photograph Eight Gorgeous Girls In One Day

Girls are great, don't get me wrong. But when you have eight of them that you have to organise, things can get a little tricky.

Here's To Happiness

Today is International Day Of Happiness so I thought I'd do something a little different and make a little list of some of the things that make me really, really happy.

We Bought A Zoo!

While you're looking at these images, I suggest listening to this song in the background to set the mood.

Okay...so we didn't really. But we did visit one!

Summer Through Mediocre iPhone Photos

Autumn/fall (I am constantly finding myself using American counterparts for Australian things) is in four days?! The other day it was windy and cold and we had a torrential downpour. I even contemplated buying tights?! So naturally, in the spirit of summer ending for another year, I felt the need to reflect on my last summer as a teenager (*sobs quietly*).

City Slicker

Last week I met up with one of my friends, Stefan for a little photo shoot in the city. I met Stefan during O-Week last year when my friends and I participated in a 'speed friend making' activity that has proved to be quite useful! We shot around some of my favourite places in the city, while we tried to stay in the shade and out of the harsh heat. 

Thank you so much to Stefan for styling himself and being such a gracious male model.

Suburban Grind

365: Week 3 & 4

First up, sorry for being a bit MIA recently. I've been away for a holiday with my family for two weeks to Sydney and Merimbula. Although I asked to stay at places that had wifi, we had a very small limit per day that I needed to use primarily for my college course work as I'm taking a couple of summer subjects.

It was nice to get away for a little while, although it didn't feel like much of a holiday with all of the studying I was doing. I really enjoyed staying in Canberra more than Merimbula. Every night I went for a jog along the lake in Canberra and the water was amazing, it moved like silk and reflected the colours of the sunset.

Anyway, here are a few holiday snaps that I took as part of my 365 project!

Above is day 13: Our first night in Canberra and the sun setting on the National Library

Sea of Love

The Makery

At the end of last month I attended The Makery, a small little market curated by Oktoberdee owner, Lauren. It opened a couple of weeks before Christmas and featured so many beautiful and unique products. I interviewed a few people from the market for my journalism assignment. I was thinking of sharing it here but as it is a newspaper article it's a fairly dry read.

The market featured local Geelong and Surf Coast creatives who all design and/or create their amazing products. It was hosted at the Boom Gallery along the river. I'd never been there prior to the market and I was really impressed! The space was light and industrial, perfectly complimenting the products on offer. The onsite cafe catered delicious treats and fine wine.

My article focused on how the creative markets and businesses in Geelong are often overlooked by our bigger counterparts in Melbourne. The Makery showcased that across the bay, we are so lucky to have so many creative people doing what they love on a local level! The internet is making it so much easier to communicate and expand. I'm really looking forward to going to more local markets this year!

Also I big thank you to my gorgeous friend Evelyn for giving me a wealth of information for my little assignment and pointing me in all of the right directions!

365: Week Two

Day 6: Paul got a new phone and still hasn't put it down. He's a little bit obsessed but it does so many cool things like being a universal remote for any TV and automatically merges contacts with the same name. It's also very, very pretty!

Drop By Drawing At The NGV

Yesterday I caught up with some lovely ladies who I met at Rookie day last year while Tavi Gevinson was in town!

We went to a Drop By Drawing session at the NGV where the super lovely Minna Gilligan was hosting a two hour drawing workshop. It was truly inspiring being in a beautiful big room with other people all drawing furiously on their little easels. We were surrounded by beautiful 17th century paintings that were larger than life. I absolutely adore classic portraiture and I'm always marvelling at the light in the pictures. Minna was such a gracious host who made everyone feel more than welcome! I sketched a few pictures, one of Natasha, a little caricature of Adele and I tired to emulate the lighting on some of the satin dresses but failed miserably.

After the drawing workshop, we wandered around the first half of the Melbourne Now exhibition which had some incredibly inspiring photography! A photographer literally threw hundreds of paper planes in and around the Latrobe Reading Room at the State Library and I'm still baffled about how he got permission to orchestrate it. My favourite part was the dance floor because I just loved the different lights and the way they flashed and the reflections on the ceiling and walls.

365: Week One

First 365 photo post! Hurrah! 

Day 1: It got to 6pm and I had already forgotten about my photo challenge, whoops! Little Tollie is always willing to pose for my photographs, even if he sometimes gives me a face that is almost saying 'Really? You want to take more photos of me?!'

Thoughts and Resolutions for the New Year

I spent bringing in the new year by working fifteen hours. I sold shoes all day and spent the last six hours bent over a sink washing dishes for three hundred people, in a kitchen overlooking the ocean in Lorne. It was hard work but rewarding. Just before midnight, we got given complimentary drinks from the bar and headed out to the balcony, leaving a very messy kitchen behind for a few moments as we saw the small fireworks signify then end of 2013 and the start of the new year.

I've been a bit quiet these past few months, mostly because I've been busy working but also because I truthfully needed the break. I'm battling through a phase of feeling uninspired which I feel is slowly but surely passing as the days tick by. I've been ditching my camera for my iPhone more and more and although I enjoy taking photographs with my phone, a part of me misses carrying my camera with me everywhere.