I’m Liberty, a lifestyle & portrait photographer
I see photography as an intuitive practice, full of play.
I grew up thinking that everybody had albums full of artful photos that captured the essence of their childhood. As an adult, I realized that this was really down to my dad's talent as a photographer. Only then did I understand what a gift these photos were - nostalgic artifacts that powerfully anchored my memories as I grew up.
I strive to give families what my dad gave me - natural, evocative images that embody the fleeting eras of growing up together.
My dad's photos of me and my siblings
My story
As a child, nothing was more sacred to me than looking through our family albums. I was lucky to have access to my great-grandparents' journals and photo albums from 100 years before. The effect on me was profound. I became obsessed with documenting things - I have kept journals since I could write, made time capsules yet to be seen, and grew to love photography and video documentation.
This naturally evolved into a bachelor's degree in history. I was never particularly interested in memorising dates or the decisions of political leaders, but I was fascinated by the way that global dynamics affected the everyday lives of the people that lived through them, and the artifacts that they left behind.
But I was not made to sit in libraries and write papers. I begged my professors to change my assignments to creative pieces over essays, and sometimes, they accepted. I began making video essays and podcasts to explore the past, using video footage and voice recordings that transported me back in time.
To my surprise, after college, I was able to use these skills. I was hired as a podcast editor, a videographer, and even as a high school filmmaking teacher. I loved the work, but something was missing.
It took me a few years of reflection to figure it out, but I have now found myself right back where I started, absorbed by the family archive. Families became my photography muses. I love the intimacy, the importance. The idea of my photos holding the same significance to another child's personal narrative as my family's archive did for me is more fulfilling than I could ever dream of.