CHASING GILDED SKIES

Cultural + Destination Photography

This is where visual storytelling meets cultural depth. I document artisans, heritage, and honest moments of everyday life, creating culturally grounded imagery for destinations, tourism boards, boutique hotels, and travel brands.

My Approach

Human-first storytelling

I document people and traditions with respect, intention, and care—no staging, no sensationalism; just authentic, lived-in moments.

Artisans + heritage

I specialize in photographing traditional craft as a living archive. The people who weave, carve, stitch, grind, and shape are the ones keeping a culture’s memory intact. I photograph them because they’re the heartbeat of a place, not the backdrop.

Light, emotion, and truth

I pay attention to colour and light because they tell the truth before anything else does. The way they fall, shift, or clash changes how a moment feels, and that’s what I’m trying to capture. Not just what I saw, but the mood of it.

Ease and adaptability

I adapt fast, I move quietly, and I’m comfortable being uncomfortable. I’ll scout in the rain, plan in blistering sun, take the inconvenient path, learn whatever bits of the language I can, and talk to the people who actually live the culture I’m documenting. Chaos doesn’t throw me; markets, boats, festivals, kitchens, it just reminds me I’m in the right place.

Services for destinations & brands

Available worldwide for:

  • Tourism boards
  • DMCs
  • Boutique hotels & stays
  • Cultural organizations
  • Artisan collectives
  • Editorial outlets
  • Travel brands & tour operators

If your destination values culture, craft, authenticity, and emotionally resonant storytelling, I’d love to collaborate.

Who's behind the camera?

Hey, I'm Sophie!

I am the girl who falls in love with places way too easily and keeps chasing that feeling across the world with a camera in hand.

I like wandering through markets before the city wakes up, watching artisans work with the kind of focus that feels like prayer, and finding the human moments that make a place unforgettable. Travel reminds me who I am, and taking photos is how I hang onto the feelings I don’t want to forget.

I don’t stage much. I don’t force anything. I just follow the colour, the light, the people, and the stories that show up when you slow down enough to notice them.

This is the work that makes me feel alive — capturing the heart of a place, one honest moment at a time.

My bucket list

✓ Peru - to bring home hand-dyed alpaca yarn and stories from the incredible women who spin it.

✓ Costa Rica - for the rainforests, wildlife and insane beaches.

✓ Iceland - where the skies glow and the ground steams and everything is a dream.

✓ French Polynesia - for cultural connection, turquoise water and salty hair magic.

✓ Scotland - castles, kilts and pretending to be a princess running from her fate on a cliffside, need I say more?

Resources

Everything you need as a Female Solo Traveler

What You'll Find:

Unfiltered Travel Stories

Not just sunsets and pretty cafés. We're talking missed trains, strangers who became friends, awe-inspiring views, and hostel breakfasts that haunt me.

Actually Helpful Travel Resources

Solo-friendly apps, must-pack gear, tour recs, and destination guides that don’t assume you’re a 22-year-old bro with a drone.

Prints, Guides & Digital Goodies

From dreamy photography to make your walls swoon, to guides that make solo travel smoother, safer, and a little more ✨main character✨.

Presets for the Wander-Girlies

Mobile Lightroom presets with a soft, film-inspired vibe — perfect if you want your phone pics to feel like a memory (and not a phone ad).

Free Phone Backgrounds

Wanderlust for your lock screen.

Download dreamy travel scenes, moody film-style edits, and tiny moments that’ll make you want to book a one-way ticket.

Free to use, forever.