Photographing Portraits on location in Johannesburg
“It takes a lot of imagination to be a good photographer. You need less imagination to be a painter because you can invent things. But in photography everything is so ordinary; it takes a lot of looking before you learn to see the extraordinary” – David Bailey.
Portrait photography is quite a challenge, anyone can pick [...]
Documenting Reality
I have always felt drawn to photographing the reality of things that some people perhaps either don’t think about or choose to ignore. It’s often easier to pretend not to notice the harsh realities of the world we live in, poverty for example, because there is no immediate solution and frankly it’s depressing. The [...]
Life in the heart of Johannesburg
I have become quite a regular visitor to the centre of Johannesburg and feel slightly less petrified each time I go, always helped by the fact that some of the guys I photographed on my first ever trip say hello whenever they see me!! On the trip where this photo was taken, I was accompanied [...]
Shooting an expectant couple!
The photo above is of my friends Toni and Mark with their mischievous little dog Chaka. I’ve known Toni since I was 10 years old, as we went to school together so it’s wonderful that she also lives in Johannesburg, in fact we live closer here than we did in the UK. Toni and Mark [...]
Beach wedding in Mozambique
Our epic journey to Mozambique at the end of May was for the primary purpose of shooting a friend’s wedding at Barra Lodge. I’ve spent the past five years photographing weddings in the UK, nowhere near the coast, so it was a real treat to be taking photos on the beach in the warm!!! Having [...]
Newborn Baby pics
Yesterday morning I went off to the other side of Joburg to take some pictures of three week old baby William. About five weeks ago I took some maternity photos of his Mum, so it was lovely to meet him and see how they were getting on. It’s really rather chilly here at the moment, [...]
Maternity on Location
I enjoy working on location, it makes a change from being in the studio, but it is also much more of a challenge. I went to this couple’s house to take their maternity photos and having not been there before, it was a case of scouting out the best areas to take photos as soon [...]
Lighting, Camera, Action
Last Friday I went to St John’s to give the boys a quick tutorial on how to use light when taking their pictures and most importantly to distribute the cameras so they can get cracking with their projects. I also got some more of the homework I’d set them back, so I now have info [...]
Fun in the Studio
I went back to the UK recently on a working holiday and caught up with a couple of clients for portrait shoots at the studio. I’ve known the parents of this little girl for three years, I photographed their wedding celebration back in 2007, so it was lovely to see them again and meet their [...]
St John’s Academy
I had a busy day on Friday, after taking photos of the little ones from Child Haven in the morning, I went off to St John’s Academy in the afternoon to talk to some of the boys there about photography. St John’s College is a very prestigious private school in Jo’Burg and they run an [...]
About Emma
Emma is a British photographer living in Johannesburg with her partner, six year old daughter and Jane the ridge-back. She has two passions in life; people and photography.

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