Photo credit: Ann Owen Photography
Hello! So nice of you to stop by.
So you’ve had a look through the website, you’re almost ready to book in, but before you do, you’d like just a little more info on who I am and what I’m like.
Well, I’m glad you asked!
I’m what has been coined as a ‘third culture kid’; that means I was raised in a culture (cultures actually) not of my country of nationality. It also means that the definition of home for me looks quite different and my pieces of my heart reside around the world.
I’ve had dreams of living surrounded by goats, chickens, horses etc from a young age. I’m still working on that dream! Dogs will suffice for now.
Connected to the dream above, my lifelong goal from childhood was to become a vet. I spent hours reading, researching, watching all the programmes and being present for actual veterinary surgeries in person. Illness in my teens meant that I had to forgo that goal.
I’m a huge lover of essential oils and the happiness they bring with one sniff.
I’m still in search of the perfect hot chocolate. If you know of one that’s sweet, but not too sweet, chocolately, but not too dark, and velvety smooth, hook me up!
I am a purchaser and starter of many books and a finisher of few. I blame having children for a lack of time.
And on that point, I am a mother to four children who all have wild, stubborn and determined personalities. Their father states that it’s my influence, but I don’t know what he’s talking about.
I never know what I want to eat for dinner when I’m hungry, but I can name all the things I don’t want to eat.
My favourite childhood book is The Tiger Who Came to Tea. I’m not sure why as if a tiger did turn up at my door, I’d be absolutely terrified and certainly wouldn’t be inviting him in for tea.
I am an extremely nostalgic and sentimental person, hence why photography has becomes such a huge part of my life.
Why do I love documentary photography so much?
I was born ten years after my brother, and the majority of my cousins are much older than me (some where already married by the time I came along. They all did big cousin things together and I tried to tag along, probably unwanted. Photo albums gave me a way to connect to life before me and see what my wider family circle was like, the love they had for each other and the fun and games.
There is one image that stands out to me from childhood. I am 7 years old. It is Christmas time. My granny has given me a present that my 7 year old self wasn’t overly thrilled to receive (I was too cool for it I felt). Someone captured the moment I opened it, and my thoughts were written over my face, and my granny is smiling down at me from the side. Every time I look at it, I laugh as I recall that moment so vividly and how annoyed I’d been to open that gift at the time.
Moving around the world so much as well, photography became an important part of my life in keeping people alive in my heart. I can hold a photograph of a moment in time, and I am instantly transported back to another world; the smells, the voices, it all comes flooding back.
Now with my own children, documentary photography allows me to capture real moments along the way of my children being exactly who they are at each stage of their development. Like Hansel and Gretel’s breadcrumb trail, they mark the path back to a life gone by too fast, and just for a moment I can see them as they once were, and hear their little voices, remember what it was like to have the weight of their sweaty head resting on me while they slept. I can recall the parenting frustrations at each stage that I didn’t think would ever end, but somehow, without me realising it just vanished. I also get a glimpse into their future selves. And when they’re grown and flown with children of their own, these images and albums will help connect their children to their past and give them an insight as to how their parents were in their younger years, and I will have something to tangible hold when my arms are empty.
Awards & publications
