Emmanuel Photography consists of the husband and wife team of Damion and Katriena Emmanuel.
Both originally from the Caribbean island of Trinidad and Tobago until they made a permanent move to the glorious Gold Coast, Australia in 2004.
The couple combines the work of design and photography into a blissful marriage. Damion taking charge in the graphic and digital design and Katriena behind the lens.
Katriena operates as a freelance photographer based on the Gold Coast. Although self-taught in both photography and graphic art, she draws upon her fine art background and the cultural influences of growing up in Trinidad which is home to “The Greatest Show on Earth” – Carnival.
“My personal style of photography is to blend reality with fantasy, you can say it’s surrealistic and I love to combine great photographic images and manipulate them to tell a story”
“The best part of photography is the creative process….I love thinking up of concepts to try and so far conceptual photography is my personal favourite form, it allows me to express myself without any limitations. I would love to inject more conceptual styles and storytelling into the fashion editorial style of photography”.
From choosing the hair, make up and down to the very poses, it’s usually envisioned by Katriena long before the actual shoot. Sometimes she uses sketches of the poses and overall design of the concept.
“I’ve had the best time so far working with alike minds in the fashion/ beauty industry and we often bounce ideas off each other as I try as much as possible to involve the artists, stylists and models into the shoot, making it as much as theirs as it is mine and then that is when the magic happens”. “It is a team effort from start to finish and I have been blessed to have worked with some amazing local talent that Queensland has to offer.”
“I draw inspiration from the world around me, music, literature, movies and other great photographers and artists of all mediums”
“Photography for me has become another way for me to paint my ideas onto canvas, instead of paint and brush, I now paint with light, pixels and a mouse for a brush.”
“I am constantly evolving as being self taught it is a continual learning process. But I believe it is only natural to keep growing as an artist as there is constant evolution in any form of art and we all have to keep pace with technology and imagination.”
“My goal is to venture into the fashion world as my photography primarily revolves around people and I love that aspect the most, the people and the creativity in the fashion industry. I believe fashion photography can also tell a story as much as it can sell a product and that is what I am here to do, make art and tell stories.”