A collection of outdoor portraits of Lucy, photographed over several years in Christchurch, exploring natural light, landscape and the quiet beauty of being present.
I’ve recently been revisiting my photographic archives, discovering work that I haven’t looked at for years. Among those photographs are a series of portraits of Lucy, created over several years at different locations around Christchurch, before she moved to Canada. What a privilege is was.
What began as portrait sessions became an evolving collection of photographs, documenting Lucy at different moments in her life. We worked outdoors, often around the coast, allowing the landscape, natural light and changing conditions to become part of the photographs.
Looking at these images again, I’m reminded of how much I enjoy photographing people outside the studio. There’s an openness to working in natural environments, an unpredictability that can create something particularly beautiful. The light changes, the wind moves, and sometimes the simplest moments become the most compelling.
Over time, my photographs become a record of someone as they were, preserving expressions, experiences and moments that cannot be recreated. AI-generated images do not.
Much of my personal portrait photography has been created outside the demands of commercial assignments, often using film and working with very little equipment. For a considerable time the camera is more irrelevant to me to be honest- digital or film – old camera or new… it’s a tool. What it captures is the magic.
Returning to these photographs is part of bringing more of that personal work into my featured portfolio, alongside the commercial and editorial photography that has occupied much of my professional life.
This is why I began photographing people in the first place. The opportunity to observe, connect and create something that becomes more meaningful with the passing of time.
My couples’ photography is super new and documenting connection and moments in time is what motivated me to start offering this type of photography for 2027.
If you’re interested in creating your own collection of natural, contemporary portraits in Christchurch, I’d love to hear from you.
