Almost exactly three years ago, I met with Brian and Lisa as they travelled to Seoul to meet the newest member of their family, Lucy. The sweet, reserved little girl we met then has since grown into a sweet, outgoing little girl, and I was absolutely beside myself when I got a message from Brian saying they were traveling again to adopt another new member of the family, Henry. Lisa and Brian invited me into their family again to document […]
Levi was just one month old when Amy and Alex reached out to book a family session with me. They knew the cherry blossoms were coming, and wanted to make sure they got a session booked. Cherry blossoms, being the fickle things they are, prevent us from booking anything firm in advance. But we kept in touch and organised our session date the week before the trees were scheduled to be in full bloom. The day before our session, we […]
Twenty-three months after signing the papers to begin their adoption process, I met the Zanes family on the ground as their family photographer here in Seoul. They could not have wished for a better start to their lives with Michael Ubin as their youngest sibling. His big brother and sister smothered him with love, and his parents with all the care in the world. Michael smiled back in return and took to his family without hesitation. We spent the day […]
Here we are at the fourth and final slice of 2014. After finally delivering all of the work from last year, I have collected a few of my favourites from October, November, and December to share with you in a final year in review post. Parts one, two, and three are up as well, if you haven’t seen them yet. October started with an amazing two-day workshop that Andy Faulk and I co-hosted for Flash Light Expeditions in Gyeongju, South […]
Finally, it’s time to get Part 3 of my Year in Review as a Seoul photographer underway. Parts 1 and 2 can be found here and here. Last time we left a couple of stories unfinished, so I’d like to start this post with those. After a two month wait, it was finally time to see Amber and Matt again, and be there as they took custody of their too-cute-to-be-true son Asher. It would also be time that I got […]
Part two of my Year in Review as a Seoul Photographer. If you missed Part 1, head on over to check it out. The year began to pick up pace starting in April with the weather warming up, and the year getting underway for everyone. I was more than happy to start it in the warmest part of the country, Jeju Island. Although it poured rain for my solo ride from Jeju City to Seongsan-ri, the weather cleared up and […]
Of all the things I photograph here in Seoul, by far the most rewarding are the family sessions I am able to be part of. I have witnessed more than 20 children meeting their new families through the international adoption system, and spent hundreds of hours with expat families looking to create a memento of their time here in Korea. Brooke and Justin got in touch way back in January of this year. They had seen the work I did […]
“She’s not the same girl you met in the summer, is she?” Mary Leigh posted to me. Indeed she is not. Nell has come forward in leaps and bounds. She is energetic, loving and full of personality. Watching her current family session vicariously through family instagram posts, I was extremely envious of their photographer. Nell was as open and active as her brothers, and that’s saying something! Part of me wishes I was there to capture that part of their […]
It’s been a while since my last update here, as there’s been a lot on the back-burner here. The constant stream of Nell updates that flows through my social media reminds me daily that I need to finish this story. So, here it is. Part 2 of meeting Nell in Seoul. I mentioned last time how much this assignment made me remember the importance of what I do as a photographer, and the second session was no different from the […]
There are few things that remind me that what I do as a photographer is important more than people’s reaction to the photographs I give them, to the story I have told for them. Mary Leigh reminded me of that time and time again, even before we met here in Seoul. I first worked with some good friends of hers, Lori and Steve, back in January of this year. Before Lori and Steve had even left Korea, Mary Leigh had […]