Every Detour Led Me Here

My path into photography was never straight. It was layered, emotional, sometimes chaotic and very much shaped by curiosity and instinct.

After school I trained as a medical assistant in a child psychiatry practice, working closely with children and families during vulnerable phases of their lives. Even back then I was deeply interested in people, in what moves them and in how experiences shape us. But I also felt a quiet restlessness. A sense that I was not meant to stay where I was.

I wanted something bigger. A city. Creativity. Movement.

After a conversation with an old school friend, I followed a feeling that had been sitting inside me for a while and applied to study photography in Cologne at the German Pop Academy of Arts. It was not a long term strategy. It was instinct, and I followed it.

Photography felt like freedom. It gave me a voice when I did not always have the words. I fell in love with light, composition and the way an image can hold emotion.

After my studies I wanted to improve my English and experience life outside of Germany, so I moved to London and worked as an AuPair for a year. That year shaped me deeply. I fell in love with the UK and felt more at home there than I ever had before.

When I returned to Germany, that longing never left. Through what felt like incredible timing, I found a position with a photography agency whose headquarters were in London and who had just opened a branch in Germany. I started working there and later had the opportunity to return to London as a freelancer.

Those years were intense and formative. I worked in product photography, fashion photography and e-commerce. Through the agency I worked in studios in Amsterdam, Belgium, Ireland and different parts of Europe. Whenever we opened new studios for new clients, I helped set them up from the ground up and trained local teams in each city until everything was running smoothly before moving on to the next location.

My life was structured around deadlines, lighting setups, production schedules and constant movement. For a long time I thrived in that environment. I was in my twenties. It was exciting. I was surrounded by creative people from all over the world and everything felt dynamic and alive.

And yet something inside me was still searching.

I often felt slightly out of place, like I was collecting experiences but not quite arriving anywhere. I said yes to opportunities quickly, without thinking too much. Years later, when I was diagnosed with ADHD, so many things suddenly made sense. It helped me understand how much my impulsiveness and constant need for newness had shaped my decisions. Back then I only knew that I was driven by curiosity, impulse and a deep inner restlessness.

Eventually, I felt drawn to the seaside and moved to a beautiful little town on the south coast of England. After years of working in busy photography studios, travelling and constantly moving from one project to the next, I felt ready for a change of pace. I'd genuinely loved those years and everything I'd experienced, but I was curious to discover what else life had to offer. So I took a break from photography, gave myself some room to explore other interests and followed a different path for a while.

During that time I immersed myself deeply in spirituality and healing work. I became a Reiki Teaching Master and qualified as a hypnotherapist, meditation teacher, crystal healer, cacao facilitator and life coach. I worked with clients in personal development and healing.

At some point I came across a job opportunity and found a small family business specialising in nursery photography. I started working with them as a retoucher while still doing freelance work on the side, and something shifted immediately.

The work felt honest and unfiltered. There was no performance and no expectation of perfection. I could be myself and the children could be themselves. It was a completely different side of photography, one that allowed me to connect with people in a more personal and emotional way.

I fell in love with photography all over again.

Magic Within Photography slowly came to life. It became my motherhood photography business, covering Glasgow and the west of Scotland. My focus moved towards maternity, newborn, milestones and family photography. Working with mothers and children felt natural and meaningful. It felt aligned.

Later, In Her Skin Photography began to take shape.

For a long time I believed my constant movement meant I was lost. Now I understand that I was building depth. I was gathering layers and learning how to hold space for people in different ways.

And looking back now, every detour led me to the same place: Creating a space where women can finally feel at home in their own skin.