Art Party celebrates the art we create and the story behind it.

Each feature includes a curated list of questions to help you dig deeper into sessions you may see on Instagram and want to learn more about.

If you have a session, series, or collection you would like to celebrate, email me the details and a link to the gallery.

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MEET POLLY:

I'm Polly, and what lights a spark in my everyday is seeing connection. I can be sitting at the traffic lights and see the way a child looks up at their mum, and it always makes me happy. I always want to bottle that moment up.

My boys are now 18 and 15, so I know how fast childhood goes. I know how when you're in the depths of it, every day can feel like Groundhog Day and you can easily take the little things for granted, but as a mum on the other side of that journey, I know how much you'll miss it. The one consistency in my work has been capturing true connection, love and joy. My style has changed over the years, but that has always been there. It really does light me up.

Favourite thing about Maternity…

One of my favourite things about Maternity sessions has nothing to do with the photos.

It's the transformation. Nearly every mumma arrives a bit unsure of herself, and leaves standing completely different. I get to watch that happen, and it makes me so happy.

I think it's because so many mummas turn up questioning if this is a bit much, a shoot thats all about their body? I think there’s a bit of embarrassment there, but there really should be none.

What you are capturing is the strength of your body, to grow this human that you are going to love more deeply than you ever knew was possible.

So my whole job, really, is to see the wonder before she can.

That's why I love maternity sessions. They're not really about the bump. They're an hour where a woman gets to feel the full force of what her body is doing and keep the proof.

A goddess out there…

This session was exactly that. She turned up nervous. Not in an obvious way, more in how she was holding herself, a bit unsure, a bit like she wanted to check she was doing it right. She'd never done anything like this before, and she told me so straight away.

So I told her my plan… by the time we finish today, I want you to feel liberated. I want you to feel proud.

And I want you to be so glad you did this. I say it out loud because I mean it, and because I've seen it happen enough times now to know it's coming.

We shot out on this incredible bit of landscape, with the light doing freaking amazing things. And she was a goddess out there. Long before she had any idea she was.

Your favourite moment…

Then, about halfway through the shoot, she said to me, “I’m so glad I did this”

That's my favourite moment in any session, the exact second the realisation clicks: that this shoot is a way of honouring the strength in your body, the beauty in what it’s creating. There is nothing to be embarrassed about; let’s own it! This was exactly what I promised her.
And one day she'll show these to the baby who was in there with her. What that kid will see is their mumma, absolutely radiant, and knowing it.

Changes in maternity portraiture?

Oh, this question makes me feel old… LOL… because I've seen a lot of changes. When I first started out in the industry 15 years ago, maternity photos were very predictable. The pastel-coloured sky, a long stretch of beach, and a piece of fabric draped over the bump, flying perfectly in the wind for the length of the beach behind her. I never loved that style, never did it, and it's the reason I never had maternity photos myself.

Now, photographers are getting so creative, incorporating personality, fun, colour, shade and light in all different ways. Full sun, moody light, harsh contrasting light, backlit- so many variations. It's really fun to see everyone's creativity shine through.

Envisioning your art…

No, I didn't envision my art ending up where it is today, but I don't think you can envision how your art will evolve. As I've grown, my art has. As the industry has grown, I've grown too.

Portrait photography has evolved so much over the past 15 years I've been in business that there is always new inspiration, and I can't deny that's played a role in my creativity changing and growing.

Your creative plans…

To be honest, the past 12 months have been challenging. I lost my dad last year and stepped back from the business for a while, and when I returned, I really struggled to put in the energy I'd given it up until then.

Before that, I was doing shoots, in-person workshops, and running the first year of my online course for photographers. Selling all three offers was a full-time job on its own, let alone the work that went into delivering them. I just couldn't show up like that anymore. So I initially put my online course on hold for a year, since demand was more for in-person, and that took a lot off my plate. It's been a great relief.

My in-person workshop Rise gives me so much joy, and I feel it does as much for me as it does for the photographers who attend, by lifting them up. But Rise has been running for its 5th year now, and most photographers in Australia have experienced it (some three times), so I think it needs a year-long break.

I've decided I'll only offer one educational offer at a time. I just found it too hard and too demanding to sell three at once, and what got neglected the most was my own photography business. So I've decided to allow my photography business to continue to flourish, and that's how I'm going to manage my time across my education business and my portrait business. Next year, the plan is to offer online education again. I'm still working out what that's going to look like, but that's my plan.

Any advice…

Experiment daily. I highly recommend a photo-a-day challenge. It doesn't have to be maternity photos; just take a photo a day. Give yourself challenges; for example, for the month of November, I'm only going to shoot in low light. Or the theme of the month is shooting through things: grass, windows, doorways.

Honestly, I did a lot of this in the early years of my photography, and to this day it still gives me ideas and inspiration for my shoots with my beautiful clients.