Gil and the Moon, 2025

This image captures my friend Gill, an artist and fellow swimmer, on a walk at Newcastle Ocean Baths. These iconic baths are prominent due to their aquamarine bleachers but I choose to obscure the location and, to an extent, Gill’s identity, instead highlighting the textures of the concrete and her untamed hair, the whimsy of clouds in the sky and the moon in the distance. The resulting image captures her with wild hair hanging down, sun in her eyes, legs disappearing over the edge of the Newcastle Ocean Baths, with a three metre drop on the other side. The image has the historic and elegant feel of black and white film portraits taken at places like Bondi Beach in years past, but in this case the subject is not in swimmers, and the sea is obscured. The viewer is invited to decipher what the subject’s mood is – to some, it may appear she’s in a moment of anguish, hands raised in a sign of struggle with the universe. To others, she may appear to be captured in mirth, laughing at the absurdity of life. It’s the intrigue of her state of being that draws the viewer in. Whatever the verdict, the image celebrates the female form in a state of abandon.

‘m a journalist, primary carer, daily swimmer and photographer intent on capturing the ever-changing ocean near where I live in Newcastle, NSW.
Just before the pandemic arrived I was living in country NSW and began experimenting with a camera in my local pool.
Since moving back to Newcastle, I have been photographing daily in the ocean when I swim, if only for a few minutes, and also as I wander beachside, documenting the people and scenes I see.
I am building a body of photographic work which focuses on sea communities and how they interact with the sea, both for physical and mental health. A strong focus is on women who swim, showing their grace and strength in the ocean, a metaphor for life in its high and low swells.
Despite my enormous concern about the deterioration of our oceans and waterways and what the future will be like for my water-loving sons, I seek to capture the joy of submerging.
A member of the Women of the Hunter in Photography (WH!P) Collective, I have been a finalist in the Women In Street New York Annual exhibition (2025), Galah Regional Photography Prize (2025), Head On Portrait Finalist (2024), City of Sydney’s Australian Life competition (2022).