About ME….

Hi I’m Rachel,

My friends describe me as fun and likeable, knower of many things, lover of all things chocolate, loyal keeper of many secrets, master of sarcasm, taker of way too many photos and an excessive user of GIFS but they are all crazy so what do they know!

Once upon a time I ran away to America to teach circus in a summer camp and met a guy from the north west of England (shocking accent by the way). Fast forward several Jaeger bombs and 17 years…. we have been married a decade, and living in West Auckland, NZ with 2 precocious children, Hugo (9) a budding actor who is soccer obsessed and Ivy (6) who is absolutely bonkers, loves dancing more than anything in the world!

When I became a mother I quickly realised that I got the most natural smiles from my kids when I didn’t make them smile, shock right haha.

For a while I used tricks to get my son to smile at the camera and I got some beautiful photos of him doing the things he loved but it wasn’t until I had my daughter that I realised that the photos that were MOST precious to me are the ones where they are just in the moment being themselves. They might be smiling at each other, deep in thought, having a tantrum or being downright lunatics running around in full dress up crying with hysterical laughter but whatever the moment, it brings me back to that day and how I felt in that moment.

These are the photos that are going to mean most to our family as the kids grow up. I want them to remember how their childhood felt not just what they looked like.

That is when I discovered the emerging genre of Documentary Family Photography which is simply documenting the beauty of your every day life.

I am now sharing my love of this genre to give families another option when it comes to their family portraits.

• An option that involves no special matching outfits, hell I don’t care if the kids are in dress up, covered in dirt or completely naked as long as they are being themselves!

• An option where they can be in their own space and not have to travel to a location just because the light is perfect at sunset.

• An option where no one had to pose and no one ever has to say CHEESE!

My love of showing children’s genuine expressions has crossed over into what has now become my main line of work: FINE ART SCHOOL PORTRAITS.

I was disappointed by my sons first school photos, not only was he giving the most strained fake CHEEEEESE smile but the whole setup was exactly the same as it had been when I was at school some 30 years before. I listened as all the parents receiving their children’s photos were cringing at how bad they were and decided that I was going to do something about it. So in 2020 I launched my Fine Art School Portraits just before covid hit our shores and boy has it been a rollercoaster! Lots of shuffling and rescheduling but its really taking off and more and more schools are discovering that there is an alternative to the traditional school photo and it’s about time right?

So I now spend my days (and lots of late nights) editing all of the weird and wonderful genuine expressions we capture, hopefully if you are reading this then your child’s school is next!