Social Enterprise Documentary Photography

There are images I can’t stop thinking about. A 91 year old still leading her exercise class. Hands buried in dirt that will end up feeding someone’s family. A back man scoring his first ever goal, frozen forever because I happened to be looking through the lens at exactly the right second.

Its not about the profit of money earnt from these shoots that I remember. Its the soul deep feeling that stays with me.

This is social enterprise photography, and it’s the work I keep coming back to. Finding organisations doing the work that matters, essential work that changes lives every day. Young people growing up with someone genuinely in their corner. Wanting to make the world a little less cruel and more kind.

Making even a small positive difference to someone makes the world slightly better for those people. And then capturing that, ohhh, it fills my cup.

A young farmer smiling while kneeling in a potato field holding freshly harvested potatoes

Elderly hands tying white sneaker laces before an exercise class, community photography Geelong

A soccer ball flying into the goal net at an AUFC under 15s match with sideline supporters watching

YMCA – community

I love sitting back and just watching. The 91 year old exercise instructor still leading her class, still showing up, still giving people a reason to move their bodies and laugh together.

North Melbourne, homeless women playing soccer. Refugees on the court playing basketball, finding their feet in a new country through something as simple as a game.

These aren’t posed moments. They’re not supposed to be pretty. They’re real, and that’s exactly why they matter.

Let’s capture meaningful stories

A group of senior women laughing together while holding textured exercise balls outdoors

Older adults lifting textured exercise balls during a YMCA group fitness class

A hand painted 3051 Street Soccer sign on a chain link fence in North Melbourne

Three older women smiling and embracing after a YMCA fitness session outdoors

Overhead close up of a boy holding a basketball with both hands

Armstrong United Football Club – deeper than just a ball game

What I loved most was the community. Sitting back and documenting the moments that are so natural they’d blend into any ordinary Sunday, except I was there to catch them.

A mum pulling her son into a hug he only wanted from her. The sideline erupting when the under 7s score a goal. The pure focus on a kid’s face as they line up a shot.

The highlight of my season was documenting a back man, moved up forward for the half, scoring his first ever career goal. I got it. That moment, frozen forever.

Then there’s the playfulness after the final whistle, teammates and siblings tumbling in together. And right through to the volunteers and committee members working tirelessly behind the scenes, the ones who never get photographed but who make the whole thing run.

Capture YOUR story

Parent comforting a young soccer player on the sideline, black and white

Close up of girls soccer teammates standing together, candid expressions

Junior soccer players laughing with arms around each other after a match

Ashmore Art – the stories amongst to art

David Graham from Simply Forged sculpture of a pelican sparking to life. Kirsten Walsh laughing at her desk in her bright studio. Graeme Stockton crouching in native grasses with a handful of grass seed, or surveying rolling farmland with his hand shading his eyes. Artists using their craft to challenge, heal and inspire, because the creativity is in them and NEEDS to come out.

Documenting my fellow artists who make things with their hands and their whole hearts is some of the work I feel most privileged to do.

Close-up of sparks flying as steel is welded for a pelican sculpture. — Sparks flying everywhere as the sculpture forms

Genuine moment of laughter captured outdoors, showing real human connection through photography

Fine art artist smiling at camera with art in back ground

Personal branding portrait of Surf Coast artist in her studio

Close up portrait of Anthony Christie wearing ear muffs pushed up on his head, looking directly at the camera in his Ashmore Arts workshop on the Surf Coast

Black and white images of a sculptor using a chainsaw making art

The Veggie Farm – homegrown

Hands. There is something magic about hands in the dirt.

This is social enterprise photography Geelong at its most grounded. A family homegrown business. Capturing the legacy, the passion, the deep roots. The people behind the product, the ones growing fresh veggies that end up on family dinner tables right through to huge corporations like Smiths Chips.

It’s easy to forget there are real hands and real families behind the food we eat. I don’t want anyone to forget.