Bio

Hello and welcome to my website.

Let me tell you a bit about myself.

For my 6th birthday my father gave me the most amazing gift. A camera. At that age, you can probably imagine my confusion, instead of a doll or another colouring book ( I was big into that), I was holding something completely new. I had no idea what it was. I held it in my tiny little hands trying to puzzle it out and was absolutely fascinated.

It was heavy and brick shaped with a smooth plastic coating and it was fire engine red. You probably remember the kind, the sort of camera that a kid could drop, sit on, drown, throw into fire and it would still come out working. Dad was so eager to show me how to work it, and encouraged me to explore its little buttons, knobs and hidden compartments that slid or popped open to reveal the film slot, the battery or the tiny built-in lens. I raised the ‘red brick’ to my face and peaked through the view finder, focused in on my dad’s knees and clicked the shutter. ‘Snap!’ The sound made me jump and I almost dropped it, but I loved the sound it made and a huge smile spread across my face, as I stared at it as the whiny whirl of the film roll commenced. I pressed my ear against the camera and could hear it clicking. I was hooked! I forgot the rest of my presents and spent the rest of the day taking photos of the living room, my pets, my sister and brother and of course, my parents (mostly of their feet). I just couldn’t get enough of hearing the ‘snap’ and ‘whirl’ it made.

Dad was a keen photographer with a passion for travel and so had developed a hobby of collecting professional cameras. So seeing my love affair with my first camera – his gift, was a source of great pride. My first pictures were all of cement walls, trees, and household furniture, but after patiently developing my rolls and rolls of film he began to give me a bit of instruction. He started showing me his photos of our family, like my sister waddling down to the ocean, my mother catching a ball, my brother sleeping under a tree on the beach, some strangers buying fruit at a market, sunsets a myriad of colours and suddenly I got it. When I was old enough, Mum bought subscriptions to National Geographic Magazine and Dad started showing me how the best photographers in the world line up their shots, and how they use them to tell a story. As I progressed, we made it a game between us. We’d compete against each other for the best holiday snaps, and it was an amazing feeling when I finally felt like I was starting to take photos to the same standard.

Sadly, not long after my 19th birthday, Dad contracted cancer in his liver and seven months later he passed away. Afterwards, in shock from the pain we’d seen him fight through, exhausted, and numb with grief, our family regrouped at our house trying to make sense of the change. Too soon, it was time to go through Dad’s belongings and pack them away. In what seemed like a dream, I went straight to one of his large chinese chests, raised the lid and stared down at his large camera collection. It was and is still a very impressive collection. Each piece of equipment wrapped carefully and stored in its original box. The box smelled of his favourite after shave.

I went through it slowly and found myself picking up each camera one by one, each connected to a memory of him. I came across some basic hand-held cameras that i remembered him using in the early days back when he gave me my red camera. Then his old SLR’s, some I thought of as old friends as Dad let me use them to practice more advanced techniques, and some ancient medium format cameras that I was never allowed to use. Probably because of their age, or disrepair, but some could have been sold to a museum! No one protested when I asked if I could have them, so when I finally left home I took them with me. But before I left, and as a tribute to him and all he’d taught me, I photographed his memorial service and our family scattering his ashes with his own favourite F4 Nikon camera.

Since then, I have travelled the world with him in mind, always taking photos and asking myself “Would Dad have done it better?” His constant presence makes me feel like he’s still with me and I see him in every picture I take.

My favourite subjects are of course, travel, nature and wildlife photography. My ‘nomad like’ upbringing has given me a unique outlook of the world, and a strong sense of respect and awe of this  planet we live on, the cultures we move through and the beauty that is everywhere we look, but for many, do not see.  My mission is to show the true beauty and harmony that is this world, and to bring you some greater knowledge of your environment, and how you fit into its delicate weave.

As much as I have experienced both with photography and travel, I still feel like there’s an entire world yet to be explored and will welcome any chance I can get to do so.

I hope you enjoy my work

Danielle