I have struggled with this goal no end – trying to find the delicate balance between hobby and career / passion and obligation. I never want to become like so many photographers – so engaged with their career and fixated on the dollar that they lose the soul of their art. To avoid this seemingly inevitable end, I found myself for some time shying away from anything remotely connected to photography. Perhaps I subconsciously thought that by disconnecting myself from photographic expression, I would be protecting it from exploitation, yet in this very process I achieved the very thing I was trying so ardently to avoid – losing the soul and spirit of the art-form.

I love capturing moments, particularly those of people poised in natural symphony of dialogue or expression. People enjoying life, savoring the moments, laughing uncontrollably, hiding a smile; People downcast with sorrow, children with lifeless expression, lost to despair, loneliness prevailing upon their brow, questioning life, questioning hope; People in love, words among friends, unstifled laughs, awkward glances, quietly embarrassed smiles, lingering gazes, truth expressed; People captured in hedonistic pleasure, dancing when they thought no one was watching, relishing in delight, letting go of all restraint, enchanted by the moment; People giving hope, smiling to a stranger, hugging a child, giving hands openly, giving up reluctantly, caring unreservedly; People expressing themselves, fashion flair exposed, shyness captured, arms outstretched in animated vigor, hair wild and unrestrained, colours subtle and conservative, colourful hues mixed with thoughtless abandon, subtlety of smile, warmth of expression, enquiring faces of confusion, silent despair, questioning of truth.

Photos expose truth in a person just as writing, poetry or art can portray. They freeze-frame a micro-second of time and from the detail of the moment give expression and reflective understanding to how we felt, looked and acted at that very place and time. My photos will not always be personal reflections of an individual, but they will in their own way tell a story of a time in my life or someone else’s that can be personally relatable. The Metro Women’s Favour Conference provided an avenue for me to re-launch my commitment to photo-journalism… to capture happiness in its very element and provide memories of a time when individual’s lives were challenged, enriched and changed forever.