Hello! I’m Susannah.

I’m a photographer and writer, and I create e-courses that help you reconnect to your true self. A Polaroid addict and very proud aunt, my first book, This I Know: Notes on Unraveling the Heart, will be on bookshelves in June 2012. I live in the UK and sound a bit like Kate Winslet (so I’m told — it could be worse, non?).

I hold an HND in fine art photography and a first-class degree in journalism, and spent many years in London working as a fashion editor and freelance journalist. So that’s the boring career stuff out of the way.

What got me started on this path?

My life, as I now know it, began at the beginning of 2005 when the man I loved died very suddenly from a heart attack.

Thirteen months into my grieving I started writing a blog called Ink on my fingers. Blogging was (and continues to be) a way to share my heart and was incredibly healing, reopening a door to my creativity while connecting me to other souls around the world.

A trip to the USA in November 2006 rekindled my passion for photography. Surrounded by so many new sights, the camera focussed my attention on the present, taking me out of my grief and allowing me to connect with how I was feeling in the moment.

It was a revelation.

Returning home I threw myself into digital photography, learning new skills and taking photos every day.  Lately I’ve been shooting solely with film again, but whether it’s analogue or digital, I find that photography is a form of meditation for me.

As I moved through the stages of grief I unravelled layer after layer of my self, a painful yet ultimately healing process. It was therapy, the ocean and my renewed passion for photography that stitched me back together again, with a profoundly changed view of the world and my place in it.

Why Unravelling?

On January 1st 2007 I started a new photography blog and wanted to find a title that encapsulated my photography philosophy and where I was in my life at that point. Unravelling was the word I chose as it perfectly described both my healing path and my picture-making processes: unravelling… letting go… peeling back the layers to find the real beauty inside.

In 2008 I developed and started teaching a personal development class locally called Unravelling: Ways of Seeing My Self. Emboldened by the success of that first class, I launched Unravelling online, offering my first e-course in January 2009, with the sequel following in May 2010. Wanting to share more about my photography practice I launched Photo Meditations: Infusing your Images with Soul in November 2011 and February 2012 saw the launch of my newest creation, Blogging from the Heart.

Thousands of women from around the world have joined together to unravel and heal their lives, their dreams and themselves. It’s such an honour to be able to do this work.

What’s next?

– My first book, This I Know: Notes on Unraveling the Heart, will be published in June 2012 by Globe Pequot Press. I’ve also co-authored another book, Instant Love: How to Make Magic and Memories with Polaroids (Chronicle Books), coming out in May 2012.

– I’ll be doing a book tour around North America in June 2012 – tentative plans include Boston, Providence, NYC, Portland, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Vancouver and Toronto.

About this site

The healing path is one that never ends and it’s my hope that by chronicling what I’ve learned I can help others reconnect to their own true selves, using photography as the key to unlock the door. I share my thoughts and realisations on my blog, alongside the occasional confessional (from me) and interview (with others who inspire me). I try to be as honest as I can, revealing the light and dark of my life in the hope that it will inspire others to do the same. It’s by sharing our stories that we feel less alone.

I’m so glad you’re here. xo