Through the Creative Door with Anna Hartley
What happens when you know what you want to do, even when everyone around you keeps asking what your backup plan is?
For photographer Anna Hartley, the answer has always been simple: photography was the plan. From studying fashion photography at university to building a successful wedding photography business, and eventually finding her passion for newborn photography, Anna's creative journey is a reminder that a career doesn't have to follow a straight line to be meaningful.
In this episode of Through the Creative Door, Alexis Naylor chats with Anna about trusting your instincts, adapting to life's unexpected changes, finding inspiration in the world around you and capturing the fleeting moments that matter most. Anna also reflects on how motherhood transformed her creative direction, the challenges of navigating COVID-19 and why pursuing a creative career takes commitment, hard work and a willingness to back yourself.
1. From Fashion Photography to Weddings: Finding Your Own Way
Anna's creative journey began with a clear vision. While studying photography at university, she majored in fashion photography, drawn to the creative possibilities of the field. But despite her passion for fashion, she wasn't interested in moving to Melbourne or Sydney to pursue it professionally.
As graduation approached, she found herself wondering what came next. Rather than following the path she'd originally imagined, Anna began photographing weddings. The work took off, and what started as a new direction became the foundation of her business.
For the first five years, weddings were her focus. She built her experience, developed her skills and established herself as a professional photographer.
Then motherhood changed everything.
When Anna's daughter, Harlow, was born, she began to notice just how quickly babies grow and change. A newborn can look remarkably different only a few weeks later. Watching those changes unfold inspired Anna to capture the tiny details and fleeting expressions that make those early days so special.
That realisation shifted her creative focus towards newborn photography.
Rather than treating her existing career as something she had to stick with, Anna allowed her interests to evolve. She invested time in courses, workshops and learning how to safely pose and handle newborns, building the specialist skills her new direction required.
Today, newborn photography makes up the majority of her work.
Her journey is a reminder that following your creative path doesn't mean choosing one direction and staying there forever. Sometimes, life introduces you to something that makes you see your work — and yourself — differently.
2. Capturing the Moments That Don't Last
One of the things that drew Anna to newborn photography was the realisation that the newborn stage passes incredibly quickly.
Those first few weeks can feel like a blur for new parents. Between adjusting to life with a baby and navigating the exhaustion and excitement of early parenthood, it's easy for the little details to slip away.
Anna wanted to help families hold on to them.
Her photographs capture more than a baby's appearance. They preserve the tiny features, delicate expressions and details that change as a child grows. The photographs become a way for families to return to a time that might otherwise feel distant or difficult to remember clearly.
This is where Anna's work becomes particularly meaningful. Her creative practice grew out of a personal experience — watching her own daughter change — and developed into a way of helping other families preserve their memories.
It's a beautiful example of how creativity can emerge from simply paying attention to our own lives.
We don't always discover our next creative direction by searching for a new idea. Sometimes, it comes from noticing something happening right in front of us and recognising that we want to explore it further.
For Anna, that something was the fleeting nature of early childhood. Her camera gave her a way to honour it.
3. Your Creative Space Doesn't Have to Be a Studio
When we think about a creative space, it's easy to picture a dedicated studio, a desk or a room filled with the tools of our trade. But Anna's understanding of creative space is much more fluid.
For her, creativity isn't confined to the places where she works. It's shaped by the people she's with, the environment she's in and what she's trying to create in that moment.
As a photographer, her surroundings are an essential part of her process. Before a family session, she talks with her clients about the locations they love and the atmosphere they want for their photographs. Some families might prefer the beach, while others feel more at home in the bush or a rustic country setting.
From there, Anna considers how the sunlight will work in each location.
She knows where she wants the light to fall and how the time of day can influence the images. A beach session might call for a different time from a shoot in the bush, where the light filters through the trees.
For Anna, the sun is a key part of her creative toolkit.
Her creative space changes with each family, location and session. Rather than relying on one fixed environment, she adapts to what's around her and uses those conditions to guide her work.
Of course, her studio and office still have a role to play. When it's time to edit, music is essential. Anna doesn't enjoy working in silence and has a playlist that accompanies her editing process.
It's a useful reminder that creative environments don't have to look the same for everyone. Some people need a dedicated room; others find inspiration outdoors, in conversation or while moving through the world.
The important thing is discovering what helps you do your best work — and allowing that space to change when your needs change.
4. Navigating COVID-19 and Learning to Adapt
Even after years of building a successful business, Anna experienced a major disruption during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Living in Victoria, she faced repeated lockdowns and was unable to work for a total of 11 months. For someone whose creative practice depends on working directly with people, the interruption was significant.
And when she could return to work, things weren't as simple as picking up where she'd left off.
Newborn photography is particularly time-sensitive. The photographs Anna takes of a baby in the first days and weeks of life are different from those she might take when that baby is 12 or 13 weeks old.
During lockdowns, some of the babies originally booked for newborn sessions had grown considerably by the time Anna could photograph them. This meant rethinking her usual approach, adapting her props and adjusting expectations to suit each baby's age and stage of development.
Outdoor sessions brought their own restrictions, too, including periods when children and parents had to wear masks.
Anna found ways to make the sessions work and ensure her clients were happy with the results. But the experience challenged her in ways she hadn't encountered before.
She describes how difficult it was not only to be unable to work for so long, but also to return to a creative practice that had changed in the meantime.
For creative people, work is often more than a job. It's an outlet, a source of fulfilment and a way of connecting with others. Being unable to do that work can affect how we feel about ourselves and our place in the world.
Anna's experience highlights an important part of sustaining a creative career: adaptability doesn't mean everything is easy; it means finding a way forward when the circumstances change.
Sometimes that involves rethinking the work itself. Other times, it means accepting that a period of disruption will affect your creative rhythm.
There isn't always a perfect solution. But there can be a way to keep going.
5. "I Never Had a Backup Plan": Backing Yourself as a Creative
When Alexis asks Anna what advice she'd give someone who wants to pursue photography or another creative career, Anna returns to an attitude that has guided her since high school.
People repeatedly asked what she planned to do after school and university. When she said she wanted to be a photographer, the response was often some version of: That's great, but what's your backup plan?
Anna never had one.
She explains that she didn't want to have an alternative that might tempt her away from the thing she really wanted to do. She was committed to photography, even when other people questioned whether it was a realistic career.
That commitment didn't mean the journey was effortless.
While studying at university, Anna attended classes five days a week, worked at a restaurant six nights a week and also worked weekends at a surf shop. It was an intense schedule, but she was determined to build a future in photography.
Her message is straightforward: if you want to pursue something, you have to be willing to work towards it. You might need another job while you establish your creative business. You might need to put in long hours or learn new skills. And you may have to keep believing in your direction when other people don't understand it.
Nobody else can do that work for you.
At the same time, Anna's story shows that backing yourself doesn't mean committing to exactly the same version of your dream forever. Her career changed as her life changed, and she allowed her business to grow with her.
The underlying commitment remained, even as the work evolved.
For anyone trying to make a living from their creativity, this distinction matters. You can stay true to what drives you without being afraid to change direction.
A creative career may not come with the certainty of a traditional nine-to-five job, but that doesn't make it any less worth pursuing. It asks you to be resourceful, persistent and willing to find your own way.
6. Finding Inspiration and Building Your Creative Community
There's no single resource that works for every creative person.
Anna recognises that the things a photographer needs to develop their practice will differ from what a singer, tattoo artist or visual artist might need. Each discipline has its own tools, techniques and learning opportunities.
Rather than prescribing one particular method, she encourages people to follow their interests and seek out a community that supports them.
Social media can be one source of inspiration. Platforms such as Instagram and Facebook make it possible to discover artists and creative businesses, see what others are doing and imagine new possibilities for your own work.
Seeing someone else's achievements can spark the thought: I'd love to do something like that.
For Anna, that inspiration is valuable when it encourages you to explore what might be possible for yourself.
But inspiration is only part of the process. It needs to be accompanied by action — learning, practising, experimenting and finding the people who will encourage you along the way.
A supportive creative community can help you feel less alone when you're building something new. It can expose you to different perspectives, introduce you to opportunities and remind you that there are many ways to make a creative life work.
You don't need to follow somebody else's exact path. Instead, you can learn from the people who inspire you, take what resonates and build a practice that reflects your own interests and circumstances.
Anna's story is proof that a creative career can grow from a clear passion while still leaving room for change, discovery and new opportunities.
Final Thoughts: Trust Your Path and Let It Evolve
Anna Hartley's conversation with Alexis is a reminder that creativity is rarely a straight line.
Her journey began with an interest in fashion photography, grew into a successful wedding photography business and eventually shifted towards newborns after becoming a mother. Along the way, she built new skills, adapted to unexpected challenges and learned to work with the changing conditions around her.
Through it all, one thing remained consistent: her commitment to photography.
Her story encourages us to take our creative ambitions seriously, even when other people question them. It reminds us that our creative spaces can be wherever we find the conditions to make meaningful work, and that sometimes our most powerful inspiration comes from the experiences closest to us.
Perhaps the biggest lesson is that you don't need to have every detail of your future mapped out before you begin. You need a reason to start, a willingness to learn and the determination to keep moving towards what matters to you.
And if your creative path changes along the way? That doesn't mean you've lost your direction. It might mean you've discovered a new one.
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Listen to the Full Conversation
Listen to the full conversation with Anna Hartley on Through the Creative Door S1. E14, to hear more about her journey into photography, the influence of motherhood on her creative practice, and why she never felt she needed a backup plan.
