Who we are
Davina Jogi - Photographer
In a risky departure from commercial family photography norms, I’m not going mention my love of the rain or the smell of rain or drinking cups of coffee (while watching the rain). I probably wouldn’t cry at your wedding nor do I know how to wrap up your baby neatly in one of those little blankets without upsetting her. And to let you in on a little secret, I haven’t been passionate about photography my whole life.
It’s been a long trip to get here, made all the more difficult by having to photograph things like furniture to earn a living. But fortunately, the main part of my career (the bit that never involved earning money) has been spent as a photojournalist and documentary photographer in Southern Africa. From a baptism by fire covering race riots in Johannesburg to documenting the coup that overthrew Robert Mugabe in Zimbabwe, I watched as the seemingly ‘simple moments’ of everyday life became extraordinary.
Focusing my camera on social justice causes I learnt to have integrity in my work, to think beyond one image to the wider story, to be quick on my feet and to make do with whatever equipment I had. So while the baby wrappers will always beat me hands down at ‘lifestyle’ photography, you can count me in for ‘life’ photography any day.
Steven Dean - Filmmaker / Content Creator
When you were a navy diver turned military contractor turned anti-poaching ranger, the only thing left to do is to switch on the camera and start filming.
So that’s where I started, creating content for the International Anti-Poaching Foundation in Zimbabwe while running their operations on the ground. It’s probably not my finest work, but it did begin to make me aware that I’d rather be telling the stories than featuring in them.
As I interacted more and more with the media, I quickly realised that accurate documentary storytelling was in short supply. This has prompted me to focus on stories that are close to me. Following the adage, ‘write what you know’, my on-going series ‘Transitions’ tells the stories of military veterans who have faced the challenge of adjusting to civilian life.
And in my own transition, I feel lucky to have traded up action in Afghanistan and Southern Africa for filmmaking and storytelling in this beautiful region of South West Australia.