“The 2023 Greatest Hits now sit cosy in a red velvet custom embroidered photo album”
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“Autumn in Port Melbourne, that black and white roll of film is etched in my heart forever”
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“July magic - The Sovereign Creative photoshoot (Arthurs Seat) and Christmas in July (country Ballarat)”
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“The Crafters do Bali”, August 2023
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A family heirloom I see sitting on the shelf in the living room, for all to browse and feel the heartbeat of our family.
That has now been scribbled in with dates, memories and moments recorded.
Remembering dates is not generally my natural forte but it may be important to my kids one day and to have this out of my brain and onto the page…
Ahhhh… the relief I feel.
The photo album is for slowness, for a Sunday after pancakes spent reminiscing on 2023, the year we lived in 5 different houses (wtf)….
Renovated a caravan…
and went on our first overseas trip as a family.
“Roadtrip to Adelaide”, January 2023.
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“Oh how I loved our Safety Beach shack” March, 2023.
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“Sunrise in Nusa Dua”, Bali, August 2023
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The task itself of making this has been at times monotonous, boring, overwhelming and frustrating! Gathering images from film, my phone, Matt’s phone & more. Condensing to 300 photos…This year’s should hopefully be a bit more simple without my phone’s photos!!!
Because making with our hands is not always glamorous.
There is grit and determination and then there is… unbridled joy.
To have the patience and fortitude to create something lasting.
Through this process I have leaned into the edges because instantaneous has become normal. I have had to retrain myself to a pace from yesteryear, learning to stick to something that takes time and effort, in this area of life.
Because I could just not do it?
But I wanted to, you know that.
I really wanted to.
And part of this Year on Film was creating more space, so that creations like this photo album, could be achieved.
What’s bizarre is that we may be updating Instagram more than keeping a lasting record of days and memories such as in a photo album… one that doesn’t disappear or live solely on an app that will inevitably be deserted when the next thing comes.
Where do we want the stories and ‘moments’ from our family to live?
We get to choose where we direct our energy.
Where we store our memories.
“Mother’s Day weekend camping”, May 2023.
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I am not making anything right or wrong, I am simply expressing, the distaste in my mouth when I realised there are some stories I have shared on social media but not documented elsewhere, which actually belonged in my family.
A Year on Film has prompted a deep intentionality about energy, about time and about presence and resource.
“First time getting nails done together”, July 2023.
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It is a spark I followed that is revealing so much…so much that I couldn’t have even anticipated.
And it is not all rosy, I do miss dancing with you! I am also currently feeling challenged by not video-ing my children and am just sitting in that discomfort, alongside asking Matt, “can you get a video of Beau saying ‘mummy i love you’”!
As an eternal seeker and future orientated daydreamer, what a fulfilling task to take a pause in January, through photographs, to reflect and have my being overflowing with gratitude..
Oh this life we get to lead !
Adventure, spontaneity, fun…
Love,
Oh the love.
“You got pink, I got red”, July 2023.
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May my children look over these pages and know they were always wrapped in love, that we loved them with everything we had and that we chose adventure over comfort, time and time again.
Indeed I have plans of more albums, each year would be oh so fabulous, plus a special photo album “Matt & Amanda” - the story of us, the years before children.
I did have an idea to do this when I was pregnant with Sophie but it was something that didn’t quite happen. I would love to tell our story through photos and scribbles… again, let my children know, who we were ‘before them’.
“Out in Richmond”, December 2018
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“Beav’s Bar”, June 2013.
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