30 Over 30 Project: Ageing, Rewritten.
An electric exhibition and magazine launch celebrating women who are louder, wiser and more powerful with age.
I still get goosebumps thinking about it.
The room was full. Sold out. Loud chatter, live music in the air, laughter bouncing off the walls, glasses clinking, hugs happening everywhere. Models stood proudly beside their portraits. Families, friends and complete strangers gathered shoulder to shoulder, waiting for the big reveal. There was buzz, there was excitement — and there was something else in the air too. Emotions.
After nine months of photographing, listening, laughing, sometimes crying, and witnessing extraordinary strength, the 30 Over 30 Project finally stepped out of the studio and into the world on the 20th January 2024.
This project was born from a simple belief I hold close: the more we see women over 30 represented as confident, joyful, complex and unapologetically themselves, the more permission we give ourselves to feel good at any age. Aging isn’t something to hide from, it’s something to step into.
The exhibition featured 13 portraits, each created through a “model for a day” experience in my private studio. But these weren’t just photographs on a wall. Each portrait sat alongside a story — real, raw, powerful life stories that stopped people in their tracks.
Stories like Lyndall, 74, a survivor of domestic violence who rebuilt her life.
Janelle, 61, who opened her heart and home to 62 foster children over 20 years.
Deborah, 60, who died and was revived after contracting Japanese encephalitis at 23 and is now a mural artist.
Nicola, 56, a founding force behind initiatives creating safe places for homeless women sleeping in cars.
Nyree, 41, a teen mum at 16 who overcame emotional abuse and self-doubt and is now a registered nurse completing her Master of Palliative Care.
And these are just a few.
What moved me most on opening night was watching people really see these women — and then quietly see themselves reflected back. People were taking photos with the models in front of their portraits. Even asking some for their autographs!! I heard whispers like, “I didn’t know that”, “She’s incredible”, and my favourite, “I will never forget this”.
Every portrait from the exhibition also lives on in The 30 Over 30 Portrait Series Magazine, capturing not just faces, but moments, milestones and the women they are today. Proceeds from the Magazine went to the Got Your Back Sister foundation.
This was my very first portrait exhibition, and yes, I chose 13 because it felt like a lucky place to begin. Women travelled from all over Newcastle, Sydney, Broken Hill, Taree, Port Stephens and the Central Coast to be part of this, and I’m still deeply humbled by that trust.
My hope is that younger women see this and feel encouraged about what’s ahead. That they understand life doesn’t shrink with age — that it transforms and expands. There is more wisdom, more confidence and more beauty waiting for them.
And this? This is only the beginning.
If this project speaks to you, I’d love to hear from you.
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