Growing up in sunny Queensland, Australia, I can't remember a time in my life when I wasn't telling stories. Hearing and (more importantly) telling stories was my thing... as evidenced by my first grade report card which bluntly states: "Celia is talkative and naughty." (Sorry Miss Coulter!). Thankfully, by the time I finished high school I had discovered there were other, less vocal ways to elaborate... and so I went to university to pursue a career in journalism.
My very first job was in a tiny town way up north... where I was a cadet reporter on a free, weekly newspaper. On my first day the editor asked: "How are you at taking photographs?" Having always been interested in photography, I jumped at the chance and spent the next year informing and entertaining the local farmers with my scintillating tales and black and white photography. I spent many hours in the darkroom, transforming rolls of negatives into tomorrow's news.
Fast forward a decade or so and my stories were being told to a wider audience. As a freelance photojournalist specializing in travel writing, I spent the next six years zipping from the pyramids to Prague... from Berlin to Bali, traveling the world and sharing my tales in Australian glossies like Gourmet Traveller, Vogue, TIME and a host of other food and travel publications.
Just when I thought I'd found the secret to living whole without a better half, I met and soon married Brent - a surfing, skateboarding and extremely passionate executive chef. Score!! A couple of years later our son was born and my world became infinitely more colorful - without even leaving the house!
With a heart to make a difference, my hubby and I followed our calling and moved with our son to the USA in 2011, to work with a not-for-profit in Boise, Idaho which impacted the lives of refugees, the homeless, ex-prisoners and others by training them in culinary skills and helping them to find work. I also took photographs for the local newspaper, and for other corporate and private clients. Six years later we moved to coastal California, where we did the same type of work - training people with barriers to employment.
2020 - the year that taught us all to pivot - found our family moving home to Queensland, Australia, closer to our loved ones.
I no longer write for glossy magazines, but have had the privilege of journeying with strong and brave people whose lives, in many cases, have lost the gloss. But they're still beautiful... and they sure do have a story! They have taught me that life is a lot like photography... we develop from the negatives.
I love to capture moments... expressions... stories. It's my kind of photojournalism, minus the pen. I'd love to capture yours too!