WORDS & PICTURES: Kate Crittenden

Connect with Kate on Instagram | KateCrittendenPhotography.com.au

Based in Australia, Kate Crittenden is a celebrated documentary photographer who aims to capture the “weird, wild and wonderful” of everyday family life – and her photographs do just this, taking the seemingly mundane and rendering it undeniably human. Although her talent has already been recognised by awards from a variety of publications, her journey is just beginning. Read more about Kate’s life as a documentary photographer in our latest interview.

Hey Kate! Thanks so much for chatting with me. Could you give us a brief introduction as to who you are?

Hi! I’m Kate Crittenden, a multi-award-winning documentary family photographer based in Sydney, Australia – or at least that’s what my LinkedIn says! Really, I’m a travel-mad, camera-trigger-happy fun-fact nerd who loves to hang out with people and make great art. When I’m not working, I love dreaming up my next adventure for when I’m fully recovered from Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. The PCT (Pacific Crest Trail) is calling me!

How did you first get into photography? Have you always been a documentary photographer?

My earliest photography memory comes from when I was 6, and used to line up my soft toys and make family “portraits” with my little film camera. But it wasn’t a big part of my life until I started to travel. (I say that, but after answering all these questions, I remembered I created a photo series that documented all the friendship groups in my year when I was 14 for the school magazine, and made a slideshow for the end-of-year parent-child dinner. I also documented the school play I was acting in, and made an album for our drama teacher. So, maybe I was more into documentary photography than I thought!) 

When I was 17, I went on a 3-month school exchange to Germany. I didn’t spend a lot of time studying but I did go a little crazy with my rail pass and visited 26 cities. At the time, I was less preoccupied with making good photos (or, you know, getting anything in focus) as I was with sharing what I found interesting about the places I was seeing and experiencing. 

I began to get more into photography as I travelled over the next 10 years, but it was always a hobby. In 2017, I spent 10 months cycling and bussing through South America, and really got into landscape photography. A lot of the time, there wasn’t much to photograph but mountains!

It wasn’t until I got sick with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) in 2019 though that I began to take my photography seriously. Similar to Long COVID, CFS is a disease that means your body doesn’t produce enough energy to do even the most basic tasks, and sleep doesn’t replenish your energy. So it’s kind of like walking around with your battery at 18% and not being able to recharge it. I went from hiking 3000-metre mountains to not being able to walk up the stairs without a break. I couldn’t even stand to brush my teeth without shaking. It is really shit. 

Browse Kate’s photo journal of the Patagonian Steppe.

For the first year, in order to avoid becoming depressed, I pored over my travel photos from South America. I taught myself photo editing using YouTube videos and books that I borrowed from the library, and re-edited my photos in 15-minute energy bursts. It was a way to remind myself that the badass on a bicycle was who I really was, not the girl who couldn’t walk to the end of the driveway. 

By chance, in 2020, I came across a photography competition and I entered it – I was shocked to be shortlisted, as it was the first time I’d ever entered a competition! I was even more shocked when I won! And then I almost had a heart attack when I won the next cycle as well! Maybe it wasn’t just my mum who thought my photos were good. With the money I won from the awards, I took a photography course, which is where I first started (begrudgingly)  photographing people; I was still way more interested in mountains, but my fatigue meant that people were a lot more accessible! 

But to my surprise, I loved photographing people! 

For a little less than a year, I had fun doing some lifestyle photography – where you pose and prompt people in a field at sunset. But it never felt right, as what I always loved about photography was sharing experiences, not contriving them. 

Dissatisfied with what I was doing, in February 2022, I finally had enough energy to try Day in the Life photography, where you hang out with a family for a day, seeing the magic in their normal, everyday life. I didn’t have to pose or entertain the kids, no one had to smile on cue; I could just relax and make photos. 

While I’ve worked other jobs over the years, as a Casual Academic while I earnt my Master of Research in Linguistics, as a TESOL teacher in Italy, and even dabbling as a travel writer, this documentary approach to family photography ticked all my boxes. 

Since that first session in 2022, I have won 5 more awards, had my work selected for inclusion in Vogue (Photo),  been exhibited in Made for Documentary’s “Best of 2022” online exhibition and was recently included as one of Australia’s Top 30 Emerging Photographers by Capture Magazine – which is pretty good going for my first 15 months! 

The documentary work I do now appeals to me because it isn’t really any different to landscape or travel photography. It goes back to why I started making photographs all those years ago: sharing what I found interesting about what I was seeing and experiencing.

 I’m really looking forward to exploring outside of family work as I get even more energy. Soon I’ll be teaming up with a local refugee-owned business to document a morning in their kitchen and I’m really excited about that, too. I’m even working towards combining documentary family work with travel photography by documenting family holidays – the dream!

Documentary photography isn’t hugely well-known. What exactly is it, and what makes it different from lifestyle or commercial photography?

Most people know documentary photography already – they just don’t realise it. Wildlife photography is documentary photography, and so is sports photography, most landscape photography (unless AI is involved!), street photography, and photojournalism as well. The basic idea is that a documentary photographer makes photographs of whatever is happening in front of them without interfering. If you’re trying to work out whether something is documentary or not, ask yourself: “could the photographer ask them to do it again?” Could the photographer ask Michael Jordan to stop mid-game and redo that layup because they missed focus? No? Documentary. 

What I do is called “day in the life” photography, where I spend a day documenting everything a family does on any given day – from the moment the kids wake up to when they go to bed. And when I say I photograph everything, I mean everything – tantrums, hugs, nappy blowouts, shower butts, bath butts, accidental butts. It’s been a lot of butts recently, which I love! 

With documentary photography, the only thing the photographer controls is when to push the button, and where to stand. 

This is the biggest difference compared to other genres. In lifestyle photography (and, from my understanding, commercial photography too) the photographer will generally choose the location and the time of day for the best light. They will advise on outfits and give the people they’re photographing activities or directions for what to do and where to stand. As a documentary photographer, I do none of that – it’s too much to think about! Lifestyle photography is a great way to get guaranteed pretty photographs, quickly.

That’s another big difference: documentary generally takes much longer than other genres. My sessions range from 4 hours to a full 12-hour day, to a week-long session while on holiday with a family. The lifestyle sessions I used to do were about 45 minutes long. My next goal is to start a personal project where I follow my subject* for a year or two to document how their life is changing (or not!). 

For me, this element of time is one of the most important parts of documentary work, and why I love it, as it lets me get to know who people are, and then make photos that try and show that, rather than just making a photograph of what someone looks like. 

* NB: I try to avoid using the loaded language that has traditionally been used with photography like “subject’, “shoot” “capture” and “take”. I find them disrespectful to the people I photograph, as they’re rooted in the colonial and patriarchal language of the past. I’ve learnt a lot over the last couple of years from @photographerswithoutborders and the essays by Zara Choudrey (@sacredfootsteps).

Photography in Viaggio Mag | Browse our Photo Journals here

Do you have a particular environment that you love to shoot in?

At the moment, any time but nighttime! I have just come off two back-to-back sessions that were outside at night which pushes my camera to the limit as I don’t use any external light sources. Although,  I do think they are some of the best photos I’ve made, so maybe I should do more of them! But otherwise – no. I love photographing in cramped apartments with kids bouncing off the walls, I love big gardens, beaches and tiny butcher’s fridges. Not having any control over where I photograph means that it’s always an exciting adventure and challenge! 

How do you capture subjects who are nervous or don’t like having their photo taken?

I have yet to meet anyone who likes being photographed. Being in front of the camera leaves you vulnerable – even I struggle with it. If you’ve never been professionally photographed, it’s often really demoralising to look at photos of yourself, because they just don’t seem to capture how we think we look. They don’t look like who we are. 

That’s why I love documentary photography, because after an hour, you have to stop thinking about being photographed and just get on with your day: breakfast has to be made, kids need to get dressed and someone has to empty the dishwasher. Life can’t stop! This makes it perfect for people who feel awkward on camera and have no freaking idea what to do with their hands. 

But I do have two things I try to do to make people feel more comfortable. I come over the night before each session for dinner and a sleepover. I don’t pick up my camera, I just hang out, relax and get to know everyone. It really helps everyone (myself included)  feel more comfortable so that it isn’t weird when I’m standing in your bed at 5 am in my pjs making photos of you half-asleep wrestling with your 9-year-old. I also always talk a lot during my sessions (this, I can’t help)  and people tend to forget why I’m even there – I’m just the dungaree-wearing girl who’s come over to drink all your peppermint tea and snaffle your McVities.

What equipment do you use for your shoots? 

I have a Sony A9ii which is a mirrorless camera with insane low-light capabilities – which really saves my bacon at 5am when there’s almost no light! I use a 35mm prime lens which is the traditional documentary focal length and is a little wider than what the human eye sees. I have a second camera body with a longer lens (90mm) which I use very rarely now. I also have a 20mm wide-angle lens which is great for cramped bathrooms. I like to keep my gear really simple – the less time I have to spend thinking about my camera, or what focal length I’m at, the better. 

Do you have any advice for aspiring documentary photographers? What has been particularly helpful to you in your career journey?

Don’t quit your day job! I know that sounds flippant, but it can take a long time to start earning money with photography. Like, years, folks. I recently saw a quote that said: “The road to overnight success goes through 30 years of hard work.” Nothing is instantaneous, despite what Instagram tells you!

What I mean is that building your portfolio (a collection of photographs that showcase what you do, typically shot for free), can take a long time. That’s not to say it isn’t worth pursuing, just that you don’t have to burn your life down to start being a documentary photographer. Do it on the side, or do it for free! Not every hobby has to be a job.

The second thing is, you don’t need any special equipment to be a documentary photographer, and you definitely don’t need a fancy camera – your phone has a better camera than professional photographers did 20 years ago! Start by noticing what interests you, and then, as my mentors would say, ask yourself: what is it about this that I find interesting? Try and make a photograph that communicates this. It sounds simple, but I truly believe that I will spend the rest of my life trying to answer that question. 

Oh yeah, one more thing: there is no such thing as talent. I believe it’s a myth we tell ourselves to stop ourselves from trying. Work hard, learn as much as you can, and practice. You’ll be making photos you love in no time.

Finally, what does photography mean to you?

I was going to come up with a super serious answer – something about the meaning of life, and the intersections of art, legacy and my purpose for existing – but to be honest with you, what photography means to me is fun. I get to play and experiment, solve problems and meet amazing people. Sometimes, if I get too serious, I think too hard and I end up overwhelmed and can’t make a decent photograph for love nor money,  but that just means I have to step back and remember that it’s fun. That’s why I do it.