I am not great at celebrating myself. I suspect many of you reading this feel the same way. There is something almost uncomfortable about saying out loud, “I did something well, and I am proud of it.” But I recently read Upfront by Lauren Currie OBE, and something in it shifted for me. She writes about how hard it is to celebrate yourself, and how important it is to do it anyway. So here I am, doing exactly that.
The Awards I Never Really Talk About
I have been making documentary films since 2009, when I completed my master’s degree. I have been creating documentary family photography specifically for the past six years. This work is rooted in everything I believe – real moments, genuine emotion, relationships that matter. And over these years, that work has been recognised:
- This is Reportage Family – Top 10 Photographers in the UK (2023, 2024, 2025)
- This is Reportage Family – Top 100 Photographers in the World (2024, 2025)
- Documentary Family Awards – Finalist (2020, Spring 2021, Fall 2021)
- DFP Documentary Awards – Community Choice Single Image Finalist (2023)
I do not enter awards as often as I probably should – life gets busy, deadlines slip past, and I move on to the next session. But these recognitions happened because of consistent, committed work. And I am allowed to feel proud of that.
Why I Rarely Talked About This (Until Now)
Here is something I have been thinking about. Women are often told to stay humble. To not take up too much space. To let the work speak for itself and leave the pride at the door. But humility, when it is performed out of fear of being “too much,” is not really a virtue. It is a way of making ourselves smaller.
I read Lauren Currie’s words on confidence and recognised myself in them immediately. Celebrating your wins is not arrogance. It is not self-promotion for its own sake. It is simply saying: I worked hard, I care deeply about this, and the results reflect that.
The patriarchy does not benefit from women owning their achievements. So I am going to own mine.
What These Awards Actually Mean for You
I want to be honest about something. These awards are not the most important thing to me. What matters most is creating work that is genuinely meaningful to the families and individuals I photograph. That is the standard I hold myself to in every single session.
But here is why these recognitions might matter to you, as someone thinking about booking a photographer:
- Consistency over time. Being recognised by This is Reportage Family in 2023, 2024, and 2025 – and in the global Top 100 across two of those years – reflects sustained quality, not a lucky shot.
- Peer recognition. These awards are judged by fellow documentary photographers. That kind of recognition, from people who understand the craft carries real weight.
- A background built for this. My training in documentary filmmaking and cultural anthropology shapes how I see every session. I am not just taking pictures. I am telling stories. That has been true since 2009.
If you have been wondering whether a documentary-style family photographer is the right fit for you, knowing that this approach has been recognised, at a UK and global level, might give you a little more confidence. I hope it does.
Now I Want You to Celebrate Yourself Too
Here is the part I really want to sit with you for a moment.
Lauren Currie introduces an exercise in Upfront that I think is genuinely powerful. She calls it an “I Am Extraordinary” list. The idea is simple: write down every personal and professional experience you are proud of. Everything. And when the voice in your head says “that’s not really extraordinary enough” – and it will, because it always does – you ignore it and keep going.
Put that list somewhere you will see it regularly.
I am sharing this because I think so many of us, women especially, are carrying achievements we have quietly filed away. Things we worked for, grew through, or survived. Things that deserve to be acknowledged.
Your list might include raising your children. Building a business from nothing. Showing up for your community. Learning something that scared you. Being the person your family needed you to be.
Write it down, own it and don’t forget to refer back to it.
