An Eye For Beauty

Christchurch creative Stacey Weaver never dreamed she’d make a living from photography, but her blossoming homeware business is proof that talent plus hard work can yield wonders

- Sally Conor

How did you get interested in photography? What made you decide to pursue it for a living?

Stacey: I was about 14 when I first became interested in photography. I started using my parents’ point-and-shoot 35mm camera to photograph our pets and Mum’s impressive garden. I majored in photography during my fine arts degree at Canterbury University and later chased fashion photography jobs overseas, managing to land a couple of gigs shooting for Melbourne Spring Fashion week. But pursuing it full time seemed like an unattainable dream. Back home in Christchurch I freelanced while working in sales and marketing roles until Just South West was born as a “project” for a creative outlet four years ago. I started selling a few prints to my first stockist, A&C Homestore, in 2016. The “project” continued to blossom and is now my full-time focus.

What drew you to photographing flowers?

I have always been drawn to still life but not to flowers specifically until the start of 2015 when I photographed a peony stem which seemed to have dried into a perfect petal sculpture. I wanted to shoot it and enlarge as big as I could to focus on all the intricate areas of natural deterioration. Luckily a friend of mine worked at a local printer and allowed me to experiment! My love affair with decaying blooms began that day and I think my mother’s passion for flowers has subconsciously seeped its way into my lifestyle and interests today.

How did you develop your style?