ON PHOTOGRAPHY
A photograph is a strange thing. Its value changes with time.
What feels ordinary now — a face, a gesture, the way someone stands or looks at you — eventually becomes a record of something that no longer exists in quite the same way.
Photography is the one medium through which one generation can see another. Not remember them, or imagine them, but actually look at them.
I think that’s why photographs matter.
I make them for now, certainly. But perhaps more importantly, for later.
WEDDINGS
Weddings are full of things that cannot be repeated — the obvious ones, and the small ones happening somewhere at the edge of the room.
I photograph both.
My approach moves between observation and direction: leaving things alone when they’re happening naturally, and stepping in when a little guidance will make a stronger photograph.
PORTRAITS
Families, couples, mothers, children and individuals — photographed at home, outdoors, or somewhere that means something to you.
Sessions are relaxed but not entirely unstructured. I’ll give direction when it’s useful, make space for what happens naturally, and look for photographs that feel like you without requiring you to know what to do in front of a camera.
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Meet the photographer
Hi, I'm Rue
I’ve been photographing people for years. Weddings were my first love in photography, and remain a big part of what I do. I love the pace of them, the unpredictability, and the challenge of finding photographs in the middle of everything that’s happening.
Becoming a mother broadened what I wanted to photograph. I became more aware of the ordinary years too — children at a particular age, families as they are now, and people simply wanting photographs of themselves. Not everything worth photographing needs an occasion.
Portraiture gives me room to work in different ways. Sometimes that means very little direction — observing, following, letting things happen. Other times, a client and I might start with an idea and make something together. That process feels a lot like making art: playing with light, colour, clothes, place and composition, trying things and seeing where they lead.
There isn’t one way I think people should be photographed. A session can be quiet and ordinary, carefully considered and creative, or somewhere between the two. It depends on who I’m photographing and what they want from the photographs.
Outside of photography, I make art, read too much, collect things I probably don’t need, and am endlessly curious about people and the things they keep.
I’m based in Cape Town and work throughout the Western Cape and beyond.
Recent Works
The Pittmans
view here
Genevieve & David
view Here
MY CLIENTS
I’ve been incredibly lucky with the people who have found their way in front of my camera.
Some came to me for a wedding and returned years later with children. Some I’ve photographed through several versions of their lives. Many have sent friends, siblings and family my way. And some have simply become familiar faces I’m always very happy to see again.
There is no greater compliment than being asked back.