Families

She’s nine now. Our little person who entered the world as a 2500g lump of love has somehow become a horse-riding, fact-reciting, nature-loving, charades-hating kid with more opinions than I had at 25. And even now, I catch myself just watching her—utterly amazed that we get to walk through this world alongside her.

Becoming a parent changed the way I see everything — including photography. Life both shrank and expanded. Time moved strangely: minutes could feel like hours, but months disappeared in a blink. I started noticing things I used to miss – the stillness between the chaos, the small gestures that carry so much love, the invisible threads holding a family together. After she was born, I knew I couldn’t photograph weddings every weekend anymore. I still love them, and I photograph them — but I wanted space to be part of our daily, messy rhythm. School drop-offs, soccer games, cooking gluten-free cheesy mac on request, being the “doctor” for every scrape and stub (“Dad is a doctor” she says despite me not being one of the medical variety).

Somewhere in that shift, I began photographing families. Not just for friends or past wedding couples, but as its own thing, something I wanted to give more time to. It started small, squeezed in around editing and parenting, but quickly became something I loved.

None of it would’ve been possible without Kristen. She’s been the constant through every season. While I explored new paths, she quietly held everything down. Every bedtime, every night feed, two and a half years of breastfeeding, co-sleeping, early mornings and long days. She carried the emotional weight of parenting when I was neck-deep in work or study. All this while starting and running an incredible children’s bookstore and showing up with warmth and care in everything she does. Her strength and resilience made it possible for me to keep building something that felt true.

And all of that, the love, the shifting roles, the small negotiations of daily life made me realise how important family life was and this made me want to photograph it even more.

Family looks different for everyone, and I love that. Some people feel most at home with golden sunset light and carefully coordinated outfits on the beach (and that can be truly beautiful when we’re looking for amazing images of families). But having reflected on what I do, I see that a lot of what I do is photographing much more of is the unscripted and everyday. That might look like hanging out in the lounge room with toast crumbs underfoot and Lego scattered across the floor, or heading into the bush where the kids forget the camera is even there and just run, climb and be joyous. It could be birthday parties, park hangouts, backyard dinners, quiet mornings or full-volume afternoons. However your family looks, and whatever kind of photos you’re into, that’s where I’ll meet you.

These moments deserve to be remembered and that’s what I’ll try to do for you. One day, when your children are out in the world, living lives of their own, I hope you’ll look back at the photographs we made together and feel the love you have for the people in those images, just as strongly as you do today.