A Modern ancient love.
Hi my sweethearts and welcome. My name is Carly, I’m a Sydney-based Wedding Photographer and I believe that weddings belong to everyone.
Whilst the patriarchy has done some weird things to weddings in the last few centuries, if you go back far enough, they were always ancient pagan spells. Loaded with ritual, community and dress up. You see human beings have been ritualising and celebrating love with ceremony and intention since …well since language and fire.
It’s who we are.
It’s what we do.
Let’s Reclaim and Reimagine.
I think we’re living in fascinating times. Amidst the rise of fascist and patriarchal forces, we‘ve also been living through a renaissance of reclaiming and reimagining spaces.
To repopulate them with the full colour, diversity and magic that reflects all of us; as they once used to. And I bloody love this. Because whilst we must understand our ‘No’s’ and raise our voices to protect ourselves and the more vulnerable, the real revolution is the Yeses we choose to ‘reimagine and create in their place’, (adrienne maree brown).
I see us bringing Yeses to lots of places in our lives: our Art, music, festivals, how we show up in our communities and personal relationships . Yet when it comes to weddings, I find these are one of the last spaces we are yet to fully reclaim from patriarchal handling. I think this is because many see weddings as owned or created by the patriarchy; therefore tend toward subscribing to their traditions or boycotting them entirely.
Your wedding belongs to you and is held in a collective consciousness far greater, wiser and more ancient than the fragility of recent patriarchal times.
Which is why I am so passionate about reminding you
(my sweet darlings), that binaries tend to be an illusion everywhere; and we exist to explore and live in the nuance between them.
Your wedding is actually an ancient spell. And spells are most powerful, more transformative for everyone, when they creatively express who you authentically are… just the way you want to.
So this is your permission, your invitation, your reminder, to deeply explore your Yeses.
From where, to who, to how. From honouring Country, to script, poems, theme, dress, decor and ritual. This is your spell, and every ingredient you throw in the cauldron, it matters.
The gatekeeping is over my darlings! We are repopulating these spaces with the colour of our hearts, and bringing your people along for the ride!
And I am here to help you!
With tips, hacks, love, support, giggles, hand-holding and parent-whispering to not only cheer-lead your creating it… but to photograph all the exquisite magic so you can keep it forever. So rummage through this website. Go take a peek at the gallery, see if the photos and the feels resonate. Check out the FAQs to get a sense of what it’s like to work with me.
if you need any more permission to do things your way.
Go take a peek at my wedding; where I married 40 of my dearest friends on a magical island, in an Ode to Platonic Love, and a permission spell for all.