Page 47 - Australian Photography Dec 2020

FEATURE
“WITH 1300 ANIMALS A YEAR, I GET ALL SORTS. TAKE DOGS, FOR EXAMPLE – I GET DOGS WHO BITE, DOGS WHO ARE TERRIFIED, DOGS WITH ANXIETY ISSUES, DOGS WHO WANT TO SNIFF AROUND THE PLACE – EVERYTHING!”
FINDING THAT “THING”
Step back to 2006 and Cearns had just bought her first DSLR.
“At first I thought I’ll just photograph everything,” she says. “But I quickly found myself gravitating towards animals. Looking back on it now, it was really all I ever wanted to do.”
But there was a problem – she needed subjects and her own pets weren’t enough.
“I did some research and saw the RSPCA in Perth didn’t have a photography partner,” says Cearns. “So I went and asked them if I could photograph their rescue cats and dogs, and then I went and did the same at a local wildlife rescue centre.” Part of this was to practice and improve, but it also tapped into her intrinsic belief that if she was to profit off animals as a photographer, she should also give back to the communities that support them.
Around the same time, she took a trip to Cocos Keeling Islands where she captured a beautifully hypnotic photo of blue underwater clams (see the opening spread). It began to attract attention.
“I entered that image in a few competitions and it was recognised, and I started to think maybe I was doing something right,” she remembers. “People suddenly wanted to buy a copy of it.”
| 47 | DECEMBER 2020 | AUSTRALIANPHOTOGRAPHY.COM