LJM Photography

LJM Photography Melbourne based photographer committed to creating beautiful and emotive images.

"Lauren is one of a kind. She is the only person I would trust to photograph sensitive or delicate moments. She is a dee...
12/05/2026

"Lauren is one of a kind. She is the only person I would trust to photograph sensitive or delicate moments. She is a deep thinker, mindful and collaborative. Her gentle and kind manner will make everyone feel safe and the moments she captures tell the story of a thousand words."
Three sessions over the years. A wedding in New York City, a family portrait across generations and the story of her business. Each one a different chapter. Each one completely its own thing.
That's what documentary photography is really about. It's not a style reserved for weddings or newborns or brand launches. It works wherever real life is happening. Whenever there's a story worth keeping.
And there almost always is.

The final image is up there with one of my most favourite images ... It says so much in one frame, pure documentary.

This is what happens when a client trusts the process.Curious Claudette reached out after I photographed her family, twi...
30/04/2026

This is what happens when a client trusts the process.
Curious Claudette reached out after I photographed her family, twice. When she was ready to tell her business story, she came back. That kind of trust means everything.
Her world is a celebration of interior design with a past. European vintage pieces, antiques, objects with provenance and personality, brought into contemporary homes not to sit untouched but to start conversations. Every piece she chooses has a reason behind it.
My job was to follow her into that world and document it honestly. When a brand has this much character, you don't manufacture moments. You just stay present and pay attention.
"Lauren understood the energy and aesthetic I wanted to capture. The photos nailed the brief. She made the whole process fun and easy to navigate."
If your business has a story worth telling, that's exactly what I'm here for.

Your Story deserves to be told

This time 11 years ago I was sitting in a surgery waiting room watching the morning news.Two of the Bali Nine were being...
28/04/2026

This time 11 years ago I was sitting in a surgery waiting room watching the morning news.

Two of the Bali Nine were being driven to their ex*****on. And there I was, waiting to go in for our third egg collection. Trying to make life while watching the end of two others.

I couldn't stop thinking about what they were feeling in those final moments.

I was bloated, nervous, quietly excited and feeling a little guilty for being excited. This was our last shot. We'd changed donors. We were all in.

Nine eggs collected. Nine mature. Nine embryos took.

I remember staring at that screen trying to stay present, feeling everything at once.

Some days just sit differently in your memory. That was one of them.

Jas and Dan found me on Instagram and booked me to photograph their wedding in 2018.Then in 2023 they invited me back. T...
23/04/2026

Jas and Dan found me on Instagram and booked me to photograph their wedding in 2018.
Then in 2023 they invited me back. Two of them had become four. There was a toddler who wanted to show me everything and a baby who was mostly just trying to work out what was happening.
That session gave me one of my all time favourite images. Aston farted. The evidence is all there in the frame. Him with that enormous, completely unrepentant smile. Jas laughing out of shock and slightly impressed. Dan just slowly shaking his head. I will never not love that photo.

Last week I went back again. The baby is now four. The toddler is six, is still full of beans and the same cheeky smile. Throughout this session I found out the boys had renamed me Marshmallow.
The next day Jas sent me a message from Aston.

"um hi marshmallow, um we really appreciate the photos, they were so much fun, I hope you can come again, you can take lots of photos of us - love Aston and Jack"

It is such an honour being even a small part of watching a family grow. To be trusted with these chapters, again and again, is something I do not take lightly.

Your customers already know they like you.They come back. They bring their friends. They tag you in their stories. But w...
19/04/2026

Your customers already know they like you.
They come back. They bring their friends. They tag you in their stories. But when someone who has never heard of you lands on your website or your Instagram, what do they see?
Stock-feeling images and a logo does not tell them what it actually feels like to walk through your door.
That is what I do. I come in and I document the real version of your business. The people. The process. The small things that make you different from every other place that does what you do.
Because the soul of your business is worth showing.
If you are a small business owner on the Surf Coast or in Melbourne and you want imagery that actually represents you, my details are in the bio.

Unpopular? opinion: the dog should be in the photos.Not as an afterthought. Not cropped into the edge of a portrait you ...
16/04/2026

Unpopular? opinion: the dog should be in the photos.

Not as an afterthought. Not cropped into the edge of a portrait you almost didn't take. As a full, legitimate member of this chapter of your life.

And lets face, they steel the show evertime

I have photographed weddings in Brooklyn. In backyards. In breweries. In paddocks with no phone reception and the best l...
16/04/2026

I have photographed weddings in Brooklyn. In backyards. In breweries. In paddocks with no phone reception and the best light I have ever seen.
Not one of them has looked like another.
And that is not an accident. It is because no two couples are the same. The energy is different. The pace is different. The details that matter, the ones that are quietly and completely you, are different every single time.
My job is not to make your wedding look like a wedding. My job is to make it look like yours.
If you are planning something and you want images that actually feel like the day did, let's talk. Link in bio.

People watching.I’m not one for crowds. Busy, overwhelming, claustrophobic places are the worst. But when travelling, th...
21/12/2025

People watching.

I’m not one for crowds. Busy, overwhelming, claustrophobic places are the worst. But when travelling, they’re part of the deal, especially if the wifey really wants to go.

To cope with the uncontrollable, I focus on what I can control. My camera. I simplify everything down to the viewfinder and tell a story.

This is how I documented Sensoji Temple in Asakusa Markets.

It was a Saturday. Packed. Tourists everywhere. Aussie accents drifting past. People from all walks of life moving through the market strip toward the temple and the largest lantern I’ve ever seen. Part of me felt like I was intruding, photographing such an intimate, busy space. But the storyteller in me was curious. What are they thinking? Why are they here?

I parked myself outside shops while my wife and son browsed souvenirs and I watched. Observed. Documented.

We made our way to the temple, bought incense for 200 yen ($2 AUD), made a wish, then wandered back.

It was loud and overwhelming. But once the camera came up to my face, everything went quiet. My mind focused only on what was in front of me.

Along the way, my wife met a 91-year-old shop owner who hand-makes the tiniest pieces. I had to photograph him. I tried to document his shop too, but it was so small only two people could fit inside, and neither of those two were going to be me.

Rain doing its thing. Weather flipping every ten minutes. And somehow… Ashmore’s first Christmas Market pulled in around...
18/12/2025

Rain doing its thing. Weather flipping every ten minutes. And somehow… Ashmore’s first Christmas Market pulled in around 750–1000 people.

I opened my studio doors for the first time and ran a little Christmas Photo Booth. Stacey held the fort inside (legend, thank you) while I bounced between setups, because with that weather you’ve got to have a Plan A, B, and C.

We got lucky too, the studio next door was temporarily vacant so we turned it into a cosy little Christmas corner with lights and pressies. Outside, we used one of the carved wooden animals from an Ashmore artist who hand-carves these naive beauties for playgrounds all over Australia. They were the perfect backdrop.

I supplied the jumpers, tinsel, hats and a bit of chaos.
You lot brought the personality and absolutely owned it.

$40 per session, includes one high-res image of your choosing. Simple, fun, no Santa queue, no shopping-centre lighting. Just real people, real laughs, and the magic of Ashmore as the backdrop. Then you wander the grounds, support local artists, and pick up a proper unique Christmas gift.

10/10. Would do again.

11/12/2025

A photograph is never just a photograph. There’s a whole world sitting just outside the frame. The energy between people, the quiet rhythms, the work, the mess, the craft. Especially at Ashmore Arts, where every corner hums with artists building, shaping, dreaming. The behind-the-scenes moments are where the truth sits — the unpolished bits that hold the real story.

A single image can only hint at what was really there, and I love how this moment shows the layers we don’t always catch at first glance. Every frame holds something deeper if you sit with it long enough.

Address

Torquay, VIC

Telephone

+61412138289

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