The Melbourne based photographer and writer Isabel Sasse is giving meaning to the saying “comfort in the unknown”. Shooting in vast open lanscapes - she started capturing her surroundings before the feminism movement (as we know it today) had taken off, and issues regarding single- use plastic wasn’t in the mainstream media. We chatted about her daily rituals, working as a photographer and how to set boundaries within the work of collaborations. Today she shares her work on her website as well as on instagram.

Quick fire🍊🍒

Born & where you are currently based?

Byron Bay / Melbourne.  

Most used camera?

Canon 5D Mark IV & Fujifilm x100. 

How many years have you been working as a professional photographer?

Six. 

Four items you never leave the house without?

Phone, keys, wallet.

Personal 💭

How is life treating you these days?

Life is beautiful (for the most part) But you know, there are days. We all have days. A lot of my movements have been towards deep-rooted inner nurture as of late. Actually, I would reiterate that to — My movements are constantly towards deep-rooted inner nurture. We can only meet others as deep as we have met ourselves. I’ve also just moved into a new studio so my focus has been on renewal, internal and external shedding of what no longer serves me to make way for continual growth. Some things we learn, and we have to carry.  

Write us through a typical day in your life?  

I usually wake before sunrise and, depending on what I feel my body needs most, I’ll either go for a run, swim in the ocean or sit in silence for an hour or two in meditation and pour a few bowls of Shou Puerh. It’s important for me to not feel rushed in the morning, to move mindfully and ease into the day. To constantly create moments of intimacy with myself. I either spend the afternoon working through shoots, I may be on location shooting until the evening, or I’ll be in my studio with myself in some form of written or visual creative immersion. In the evening I like to sink into an infrared sauna. I do this usually once a week. It’s a moment for me to sit with my own breath and to hold myself accountable for where I am showing up in my life and what parts of my life require a deeper insight into understanding and patience for self. Where I have grown, and what I have yet to grow into. All forms of our practices and the things we blindly become accustomed to require upkeep. Inclusive of (yet not limited to) the parts of ourselves that we don’t want to do the work on. It takes a lot of courage to look these things straight in the eyes. But look them straight in the eyes we must.  And at the end of it all — If I time it well, I come home just as the last light of the day comes straight through my studio. I open all my doors and windows (this is something my mother instilled in me; the breathing in of fresh air as a cleansing of space.)

“What are we, if not our rituals.”

If you weren’t a photographer and a writer, what do you think you’d be? 

Architect — I need to visually translate my mind in a tangible form. Be it through a photograph, or the structure of intentional design.  

How do you go about re-gaining your inspiration when you’re feeling blue?  

Rest & Patience — I turn inward. I go into a full embodiment of omni-presence. I disappear. I document my processes and write. I let everything spill out, I give it my love, my attention, then I let it be. I begin to separate myself from my surroundings and dive deep into my own solitude. I sit there for a while and focus in on who I am outside of everything that surrounds me. I also dive deep into the ocean — Cry into it if I have to. Depends on the weight of the blue. 

The best and worst part of being a full-time photographer?  

Working your own hours.  

So, what does the future hold?

I tend not to fixate on the future. I do have personal goals and manifestations that I sit with often and am always moving towards. I think we should all have something that makes us want to get out of bed in the morning, something that makes us want to be a better self for ourselves. All in all, I have no idea what the future holds, and that is as beautiful as it is terrifying. I’m learning to lean into the unknown. There are certain things that we just cannot know — I’ve made peace with that.   

Photography & Writing 🎞🖇

How would you describe your photography style?  

Veiled in light. 

What would you like to tell with your photography?

How to speak through fragility with strength.  

I see that you predominantly take photos of women, is this a conscious decision or something that has occurred organically? 

At first unconscious, turned conscious intentional development. It’s not always about women, sometimes it’s about men. It’s not always about men, sometimes it's about women. I have worked with men, but I rarely seem to publish those bodies of work. I do love working with men as much as I love working with women, the movements they both bring have such subtle variance. Men hold structure & elements of tenderness, women hold fluidity & grace.  I tend to dance between the masculine and the feminine. In many aspect of my life, not just my art-form; how I dress, how I hold myself, how I speak, how I sit. So as much as my intentions are conscious, they are also unconscious. I let everything fall into itself.  

What’s the story behind your favourite photo?

It’s an image a man I loved for six years took of me — I’m walking through the desert naked.  

Where do you usually find yourself writing? 

Alone in my studio. My silence is where everything rises (and I can listen.) 

How do you decide which brands to work with? - If a brand you aren’t comfortable collaborating with approaches you, how do you go about that?

 Intentions. What are your underlying intentions? Beyond ego. How can we support one another? How are you moving towards sustainability? Tomorrow is too late. A lot arises. My boundaries are set with clarity; I use to take on everything. And there is only so much one woman can do. But I am learning what I stand firm in, how to be more selective, set deadlines that leave room for error. I’m learning how powerful it is to say “This is what I believe in” and “This is the kind of work I embody” and firmly standing by it. If people want something they will wait. And if they cannot hold patience, and want immediate perfection and validation— I’m not in that line of work.  

If you had to choose between digital or analogue photography, what would you choose and why?

Analogue — There’s a certain language translated through film that digital cannot understand.

From your point of view, what makes a good photograph? 

Light. 

Where is your favourite place to shoot?  

Vast, open landscapes. Spaces that allow for movement. Spaces that allow for breathing. Spaces that have little to no signs of humanity.  

In what way do you think writing and photography has intertwined each other in your work? 

I adore simplicity intertwined with depth — So I think that’s what I’ve tried to carry through in my work. I need everything to have meaning. It’s not enough anymore for something to simply be pretty. Our worldview, our perception of art is evolving. Give me something I can sink my teeth into. 

What do you think is important for the future of the art world?

 How we support one another.  

What is your main tip for people who wants to get into photography and/or writing?

Be patient with yourself. Doubt comes in many forms and you learn to love things until you don’t — and then you do it all over again. You don’t need anyone’s affection or approval in order to be good enough. When someone rejects you, it has nothing to do with you. It’s about them, and the projection of their own insecurities, limitations, and needs, or simply just where they’re at in their life, and you don’t have to internalise that. Your worth isn’t contingent upon other people’s acceptance of you.

Interview with Isabel Sasse