Elle Mace Podcast: The Story Behind the Lens

Why I Shoot the Way I Do

As photographers, we’re often known only by the work we produce. The images live on, shared, reposted, sometimes remembered, while the person who made them remains quietly behind the scenes. And truthfully, I’ve always liked it that way. But when Elle Mace invited me onto her More to Life podcast, it felt like the right time to flip the lens around. Not just to speak about photography, but about the more personal threads that have deeply influenced how and why I create the work I do. Our conversation peeled back layers around body image, confidence, creative energy, and surviving both physically and professionally in a world that often demands perfection. We explored the contradictions I’ve felt over my many years as a freelance photographer, especially in the wellness and sports industries where the pressure to present a flawless aesthetic often overshadows the more powerful stories of strength, recovery, grit, and diversity.

Photographing Real, Not Perfect

Much of my early work involved shooting campaigns for fitness and health brands, apps, books, DVDs. But somewhere along the line, I noticed a creeping discomfort. I was repeatedly asked to smooth, trim, or enhance images to suit a visual ideal that didn’t align with what I was seeing, or believing in. Perfect poses, matching sets, zero visible flaws. I started to feel like I was part of the problem. That tension turned into a powerful shift. I began to centre my photography around capturing the real: the energy behind a moment, the fire in someone’s eyes, the physicality of movement, not just the look. Whether I’m shooting an elite rugby player or a yoga teacher in flow, what drives me is representing people fully, not flattening them into a stereotype. Because there’s something electric about an image that feels like the person. You know it when you see it. That’s the space I work to create.

Working Through the Invisible

In the podcast, Elle and I also spoke about the impact of my health journey, something I haven’t talked about publicly much. Over the years, I’ve had multiple surgeries to treat a rare condition, ultimately resulting in an oesophagectomy, a procedure that removed my oesophagus and rebuilt it using my stomach. Photography is physically demanding. It requires stamina, movement, and total presence. And navigating that reality alongside chronic recovery meant I had to adapt, sometimes shooting all day fuelled by liquid nutrition. There were years where eating in public caused anxiety. I needed litres of water to help food pass through my system. I lived off gravity and grit. But photography kept me focused, and that determination became part of the way I work: sensitive, aware, but always with a clear intention, to make a difference.

Human First, Always

What I hope people take away from this interview isn’t just a story about illness, or even photography, but about how we all carry unseen challenges. Whether you’re a creative, an athlete, or a CEO, you know what it’s like to wrestle with self-doubt, comparison, or perfectionism. And images ‘real images’ can be a reminder that being human is complex and beautiful. So when I’m commissioned, I don’t just show up with a camera. I bring a deep respect for my subject, a calm energy that puts people at ease, and a mission to reveal the story beneath the skin. My goal is always to make work that resonates, visually, emotionally, truthfully. If you’re looking for photography that brings that energy, something dynamic, real, and grounded in purpose, then I’d love to work with you.

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