Humble Beginnings

Unlike many photographers that I admire, I didn’t get my first camera at the age of eight and begin my career photographing the family dog or leaves in the back yard. I wish I did, because I guess I would be a lot better than I am now. I got my first camera at the age of 24 before heading off to Africa to do some volunteer work (I’m also a nurse) with a large international NGO called SIM. During my time there, I fell in love with this photography thing, and especially enjoying photographing the local people, children, and culture. At the end of my time in Africa, I traveled a bit, and got a taste for what it’s like being a travel photographer. On my way home, I was lucky enough to get an amazing deal on a DSLR through a friend who is a professional photographer living and working in Thailand.

As is the case with many wannabe aspiring photographers like me, I started to pick up a little bit of work here and there shooting portraits and babies, etc, which turned into weddings and events. After a short while (probably too short, in hindsight), I decided to make something of it and started a Wellington-based wedding and portrait photography business – Invision Photography. The business slowly grew while I continued to work full-time as a nurse in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at Wellington Hospital. I found I really enjoyed shooting weddings, etc, as I love to photograph people and get a real kick out of being involved in such an exciting event.

Recently, though, I have found myself dreaming more about traveling and photographing other peoples and cultures, and especially the organisations and projects that are making the world a better place. One of the reasons I became a nurse in the first place was because I wanted to help the poorest and most in need. As a result, I have recently decided to completely change the direction and focus of my craft to humanitarian and cultural photography. This will be a massive learning curve, as with any big change, but I feel like I have found that thing that many people spend their whole lives seeking, and I am more determined than I have ever been to make it happen.

I have been lucky enough to find a small community of like-minded visual artists to network with and learn from. They have been part of the inspiration to take this step, and without them, I may not have had the courage to do something this crazy. Thanks especially to the International Guild of Visual Peacemakers (IGVP) and Focus For Humanity.

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Posted on Saturday, August 28th, 2010 at 9:57 AM. Filed under: Blog, Photography Tags: Africa, culture, Ethiopia, humanitarian, NGO, photography RSS 2.0 feed.