A DECADE ON

In 2013 I was cutting my teeth in the rag trade, building a soon-to-be cult fashion label off the smell of an oily rag. I was completely inexperienced but overflowing with enthusiasm & harbouring ambitious dreams of global recognition & acclaim.

Building a fashion label, in the bourgeoning athleisure category was exceedingly tough, & required capital I didn’t have. This often lead me to have to ‘MacGyver’ my way through obstacles & challenges out of necessity.

The biggest issue I felt we faced was brand assets, specifically luxe photography. After having enquired into the rates of fashion photographers & pricing out a campaign shoot, I realised I’d need to call in some favours from some friend photographers & naturally there are only so many favours you can ask.

I quickly realised this was something I couldn’t afford to outsource but knew it was essential in getting our brand to market & setting the tone for our premium products. So I turned to YouTube & invested $5,000 into my first camera setup up and I fell in love. Photography lit a creative fire under me that couldn’t be contained.

A decade later, this self-taught photographer, has returned from a commissioned trip to Europe, where I photographed world leaders & went on to capture my bucket shot: The Northern Lights over the Arctic Circle and just today, placed Top 30, Top 20 and Top 10 respectively across Advertising and Fashion & Landscape categories in the 2023 Capture Awards.

This past decade was full of the highest highs & the lowest of lows, but one thing remained consistent - a love of photography. Today’s achievement is simply another step towards my audacious goal of being a world-renowned photographer & I feel honoured that industry peers see potential in my work. I am only scratching the surface of what I know I am capable of, but today, I feel incredibly proud to be here and excited to see what 2024 brings.