YES! I Do Support Marriage Equality In Gippsland

2 years ago we had a simple idea, photograph anyone in Gippsland who believe in the equal rights for ALL PEOPLE to marry the person they loved. Since then we have photographed over a 1000 of you. Raised over $5k, published a book, started a LGBQITA+ Youth Support group, A queer social club, and been able to run an amazing campaign over the last 3 months in the MAIN STREET OF SALE. All leading up to this day. Our community has seen the worse Australia has to offer, from the face of the national no campaign living our region, a victim of a hate crime and media out who couldn't keep it
clean or balanced. We have persisted not out of spite but LOVE! Thank you all who stood up to be counted 2, 10,20,50 years ago thank you to everyone who vote THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO FOUGHT FOR LOVE AND WON!

I'm MOVING!

A LEAP OF FAITH IS BEST DONE AT A RUN!

That's my new life's motto (my old one was life's a box of chocolates i'm gonna eat them all)

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Over the coming month of May I will be painting, hammering, drilling, lighting and whipping into shape a space for my BIG Picture Portrait Studio to spread it's wings and fly. I'm moving my beautiful secret little studio of 5 years from my parents garage to the Main Street of my hometown Sale. Yep the time has come, I've paid the bond and enslaved my handyman dad…. seeing as my handyman boyfriend is yet to swipe right on tinder, no turning back now!

I have to say I feel a little bit emotional even typing that (not the enslaving part....i'm totally fine with that). The truth is I'm moving to the MAIN street not out of necessity or because my parents are kicking me out to turn my studio into the "naked room" but because I know deep down the idea of working in the public eye day in day out impersonating one of those wacky waving inflatable arm tube man yelling at the top of my lungs "I CREATE THE WORLDS MOST AWESOME FAMILY PHOTOS" scares the living daylights out of me. It has for the last 5 years which is of course far too long, so D Day has come and I couldn't be more excited!

It's been nearly 15 years since Sale has had a professional portrait studio in the MAIN street. Why is a shop front so scary to a photographer?  Most would say it was a hostel take over of the digital camera and 2 cent prints that devalued the concept of "a professional photograph" but....I don't buy it.

I can't speak for everyone but for me it's simple. I didn't want to create a family portrait for the masses that wouldonly fill them with greatest of embarrassment and haunt them for the rest of their lives with the only revenge being to have it featured on awkwardfamilyphotos.com

I wanted to make the family portrait, modern, classy, exciting and something you look forward to having every year. And it took me 3 years to find it and 2 years to perfect it. The hardest lessons I have had to learn as a photographer is that my work is a process not a result. You know "it's the journey not the destination" saying but with photography it translates as the following:

1.     This is awesome
2.     This is tricky
3.     This is shit
4.     I am shit
5.     This might be ok
6.     OMG that was awesome!

You see when I started my studio I didn't have the BIG Picture ( I didn't even have lights or a printer) I just had me, a shiny new diploma from the top photography course in Australia.... and this vague "idea" of the perfect family portrait experience. I soon learned that I was not strong enough, smart enough, good enough, pretty enough, rich enough and every other enough you could think of to make my studio MAIN STREET worthy. So after I exhausted every resource building and rebuilding my studio. I started focused on rebuilding myself cell by cell reprogramming my brain to not only be enough to handle anything the studio could throw at me but to be everything and more!

So finally after 5 years of spilling my blood, sweat, tears, ink and paper over a garage floor where my mum could come down mop me up, rinse me out, and say " Honey I think your photos are wonderful"  (actually she said more often then not are you crazy it's 4am go home & get a boyfriend!)

I have not just created the perfect family portrait but the perfect me. The me that can say with out a doubt I love this photo I have created for you and I know that you will too for many many years to come. And one day it's really going to mean something that it was a "Pollyannar" original. (with a bit of luck I won't have to be dead and it's not because it was the most popular photo on awkwardfamilyphotos.com of all time)

So there you have it the final memoir of Pollyannar right before she made the biggest mistake of her career by moving the BIG picture out of her parents garage and into THE MAIN STREET. ( Joking the biggest mistake of my career was wearing a coloured top.)

I will be launching the new studio on Friday the 3rd of June with a little shin dig and I would love for you to come and join me in this wonderful new chapter of The BIG Picture

Happy Days

Pollyannar