Stoked to announce our short documentary “Wāhine & Waves” is part of the official selection in Aotearoa Surf film festival this year 🥳🥳🥳
It’s been a hard slog over the past 5 years but it’s finally ready (enough, lol I don’t think documentaries are ever ready as they keep evolving!) for the eyes of the Aotearoa community 😍
First stop of the tour is in my homeland Napier in two weeks on the 2nd March, so round up the crew and come see Aotearoas FIRST all-female surf film on the big screen (I’ll be hiding and cringeing in the back every time my face appears) 😅😵💫 but I’d LOVE to see you there.
Watch as we manage to reunite the gurf crew for a week-long roady during two cyclones on both coasts, with plenty of adventure and peppered with kiwi roady banter of course.
This dream wouldn’t have been made possible without the insane skills of the @triglassproductions crew and the support of @aotearoasurf who bring art and surfing together for a nationwide tour.
Tag your gurf crew, share the love, and I can’t wait to meet you all 🧡
“I was terrified, not for motherhood or birth or my relationship with the ocean personally, but for my job and my career. If your job requires you to dive and you can’t, what use are you?.. To be honest it was a really hard thing to navigate emotionally and professionally, and one I’m still struggling with now in my second pregnancy..”
The divine Lucie & her cherub, Māhina for #projecthapu
(Please keep emailing me if you’re interested or have friends who might like to be involved, it’s a long evolving project and the door is wide open ✨)
“..For a couple of years I felt a little lost.. after having our first, the love and fire has reignited in me and since then I have re-connected with my whakapapa in Northland and have found that deep love and energy for the ocean again..”
~ The divine Evita for #projecthapu
Oh haayyyy! 👋🏽 It’s been a VERY slow crawl out of my velvet blue cave over Summer, but after a much needed rest, I’m (finally!) SO looking forward to 2022. During the break I like to put my camera down & fully reset but always get urges to create and film some stock footage, plus little snippets to share with those of you who perhaps don’t have access to the ocean like we do so we can connect you to it too 🧡 This year ahead for me is all about film and community, and of course, continuing to inject my socially conscious and slightly adventurous (😏) lens into advertising campaigns with the crew @weareloserkid
Anyway, if you’ve made it this far (thanks, lol) here’s what’s been filling up our cup over the past few weeks..
Footage is a mixture of my POV from the @canon.nz R5 while testing out my new housing, and chur to my homie/husband for the BTS on the @goproanz
Affirmation of the day: “By this time next year, I will be living a more peaceful and prosperous life. The worries that are clouding my thoughts will feel distant and insignificant.
I’ll be proud of the way that I fought to make space for my needs and wants. Goals that once seemed impossible will be within reach.”
Needed this caption today and hope it helps one of you out there too. Dreaming of the days we get to dance with wildlife again 💭
Thank you for these soul surging words @thirdeyethoughts
Last week at the @cannes_lions, The amazing Case Study Project by @saatchinz & @womensworknz wasn’t awarded a Lion (really prestigious award for all the non-ad folks reading 😉) . But for them, entering was ultimately not about receiving a trophy. It was about putting this little-discussed and quite uncomfortable issue in front of all those judges.
Less than 15% of all photography used in advertising is shot by women photographers. As an industry that creates and celebrates work that is made to address the societal imbalance, bias and inequality, we think we all could be doing more to improve the opportunity and representation of women photographers. So we hope all those influential creative practitioners who viewed our case study and gave it their consideration, will now take its message into their agencies wherever they may be in the world, and begin to consciously put women photographers on their project shortlists.
Epic little video by @manjawachsmuth and link to the case study in my story!! x
When Riley says she’s ok.. #coolcalmcollected
Do you know the true cost of your surf suit/bikini? It’s coming into the season where we’re starting to get our limbs out and planning #hotgirlsummer gram shots so make sure your photos can also be tagged with #slowfashion #ethicallymade & #sustainablefashion 🌱 There really is no excuse not to buy swim & surfwear made from Econyl now (a regenerated nylon yarn produced from textile waste and discarded ocean plastics) and you should be asking the question ‘Who made my clothes?’ Fast fashion truly is the devil when it comes to people & the planet, with almost a 5% of CO2 emissions contributing to our continually warming planet 🌍 We are geared as a society to consume but let’s consume gently and smartly ~ Buy your bikini from responsible brands who are transparent with their supply chain. I’m extremely proud to call Danny @saltgypsy a friend (and I believe one of the pioneers to intro Econyl to the NZ/Au market). Here’s a little snippet of the piece we shot last Summer ☀️
He tāngata, he tāngata, he tāngata. What is the most important thing in the world? It is the people, the people, the people. I always called myself a ‘one-woman band’ when describing my business but I’ve realised I actually have a huge team behind me! This first half of the year has been spent filming some incredible people doing incredible things and I just wanted to say a big thankyou to everyone who has been a part of @amberandfriendsphotography 🎥 Thankyou for letting me tell your story, for sharing your wonderfulness, and keeping this little business going. From the bottom of my heart, Arohanui 💛💛💛
The Blue shark, known for its curious, gentle manner, its cartoon eyes & it’s blueish tinge..And unfortunately for its ‘delicious’ fins 😣 Up to 20 million a year globally are still mercilessly killed (they chop their fins off and let these poor creatures sink to the bottom to die). But if the demand for it stops, so does the finning #stopthetrade #nosharkfinsoup
I began to despise the term ‘content creator’ because now it applies to everyone who possesses an iPhone. I wanted to chuck all my photography in and start fresh with something more tangible, something that I can hold, touch, feel and not be doing it for a social platform. However, when I pull my perspective back a bit upon returning from encounters like these with this baby Blue shark, I realise content creation doesn’t have to fit in with all the ‘influencers’ and ‘insights’ and ‘profile views’. It needs to tell the stories that matter, for the brands who are doing good sh*t in this world and for the animals who don’t have a voice whom we continually exploit and destroy ecosystems. So, I won’t be putting down the tools just yet 😉 but will continue to be a square peg in a round hole in this social media bubble. Thanks for listening, watching Amber & Friends evolve and genuinely engaging with the work. I’m beyond stoked to be connecting with all 7000+ of you and can’t wait to see what 2019 has in store.. 💙
Here’s the little film about the roady up North we went on to put the new @canon.nz mirrorless EOS-R through its paces. We played a bit of pass-the-parcel with the camera and it was likely the most epic collaborative project I’ve ever been invited to take part in (no prizes to guess which segments I shot 🙈) Amazing work as always by the @syrp_ boys, hats off to you for your magic work & then stitching this all together, and thanks for the invite @canon.nz yeww
Salt Gypsy - The story
I can finally officially release this brand film we worked on in February and what a day for a release !! #internationalwomensday
As a company run by oceanwomen for the global community of oceanwomen Danielle Clayton of Salt Gypsy is setting a new standard for the Fashion world by taking waste from our oceans and turning it into sexy, stylish and most importantly - SUSTAINABLE surf wear.
Living and breathing her incredible brand for a week over in Byron I really got a sense that this brand is a global game changer and I am thankful the universe brought us together in it's wonderful way.
Without further ado - I present to you the story behind Salt Gypsy, the independent surf label based in Byron Bay (but shes a legend kiwi) thoughtfully designed, responsibly made surf separates for discerning women of the sea.
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"Let the beauty of what you love be what you do." - Rumi.
My next post I'll show you the pivotal shift that took my obsession with everything ocean and developed into a storytelling career 💙
Mazda presents ; The Life of Riley & Koda
This project has been in the pipeline a long time and we've finally been able to release it to you! The team at Mazda have partnered up with Riley & our pooch Koda to take you on some rad adventures around NZ throughout summer and show you guys how to live the Life of Riley, spoken from Koda's point of view. Let us know what you think! :)
Always trying to find new ways to tell stories. Here's a picture from our roady with @sparknz when we found an amazing (clean!) natural plunge pool down South somewhere #endlesssummernz #dipyaheadunder #noearinfectionshere
I could watch this replay for hours because if I could hold my breath forever these Akule would have circled around us for as long as we sat still. So instead here's my animated fantasy. How good is planet earth though 💙🐡🐡🐡🐡
