20/04/2026
I have had the pleasure of photographing this beautiful human for over 30 years now.
Most of that time she’s HATED it.
Not in a dramatic way. Just in the quiet, tense, “I don’t know what to do with my face” way that so many people feel in front of a camera and never say out loud.
She never asked me to stop. She just endured it. And somewhere over the years, without either of us really noticing, that shifted.
She still isn’t completely comfortable. But she doesn’t hate it anymore. And now she asks for shoots for her business, which honestly still makes my heart a little full every time.
Photographing her over three decades has taught me more about this work than almost anything else.
It taught me that trust is not something you can rush. It taught me to meet people exactly where they are, not where I think they should be or what I think they should look like. It taught me to read the tension that most people cannot see, the slightly held breath, the smile that is almost right but not quite, the moment just before someone relaxes into themselves.
And it taught me that when you finally get it right, when someone looks at a photo of themselves and actually sees themselves, it means everything.
Her latest shoot is my favourite we have ever done together. She looks so perfectly her. Relaxed. Her real smile. Clothes that are completely her but polished and professional at the same time.
And we’re already talking about her next shoot…instigated by her!
Squeaky I love you so much!!! Thank you so much for being my muse for all these years and entertaining your big sisters hobby till it became my career. I’m forever grateful .schoolofbirth.
Thirty years in the making.
Worth every single one. 🤍
And thanks to my other beautiful sister for this bts I love you too ###.