Tammie Joske
Tammie Joske is a commercial photographer based in Sydney, Australia. She’s best-known for her work as Canva’s in-house brand photographer, and her work has been seen by millions of people around the world on billboards and in publications like Time. She’s worked on a variety of different projects since she first began her photography career in 2013, from wedding photography to editorial, commercial and even food photography. Her favorite type of work is making portraits.
Hi Tammie! Tell us a little about yourself — when did you first become interested in photography and how did you get to where you are today?
I pretty much grew up with a camera in my hand. My parents ran a wedding and portrait photography business out of our home, with my dad shooting weddings on the weekends and portrait sessions from our small home studio. My mum would create the wedding albums and take care of everything else in the business. I used to play with my dad‘s cameras a lot and bought my first point and shoot from Cash Converters (an Australian pawn shop) when I was five years old.
Now that I’m reflecting on my early journey, I’m realising how I was so naturally drawn to photographing people — I’d grab my dad’s camera at family friend BBQ’s and days in the park and take portraits of the younger kids and photos of them playing and being themselves.
It wasn’t until I went to uni, though, that I really got serious about learning the technical side of photography. I was actually studying advertising and journalism at the time, but when I took an elective in photography it just came so naturally to me that I ended up topping the class. It made me realise that it was truly what I wanted to do. So, after I graduated, I went into the wedding photography business and did that for a few years, while taking on portrait and a few small commercial and editorial jobs on the side until I eventually transitioned out of weddings.
In 2019 I became Canva’s in-house brand photographer, which has been such a fun and rewarding journey. I believe every experience I had leading up to now – including my studies in advertising and even shooting weddings – has contributed to how my work looks today.
Photographer Tammie Joske
“one of my favorite things to do on a weekend is to roam the streets, or a busy beach or a tourist spot with a 35mm and just shoot from the hip. It’s a break from my usual work which is often heavily art-directed and involves many ‘chefs’ and stakeholders.
This is just me, a roll of film, and whatever happens in front of my camera. It’s quite liberating.”
From your commercial work to portraits, your images feel authentic and have a very relaxed feel. How did you find your own photography style?
Thank you so much! That’s a huge compliment and exactly what I hope for whenever I step into a shoot.
I think finding your style comes down to a few things. The first that comes to mind for me is looking at other photographers’ work that I admire and kind of reverse-engineering and experimenting until I get a similar result. I’ve dabbled in a few different genres of photography (I even shot a whole cookbook once!) which all had unique challenges of their own, and have all contributed to my style.
Having a camera in my hand as much as I can and then looking at my work analytically to find what I like and don’t like has helped me to course-correct and refine my style over the years too. But, I also think that style can be shaped by other aspects of our lives. For example, I’m a musical person, so when I hear a song I see images, and sometimes when I see photographs I hear songs. So music can be a really wonderful source of inspiration for me.
My beliefs and my values have also shaped my style and the way I view everything I see here on earth as a thoughtfully and intentionally designed artwork, made by a creator — which makes us, who are made in God’s image, creators too.
You’ve worked with a range of clients including Canva, AirBnb, Jaguar, and more. How do you approach creative collaboration on your commercial projects?
Honestly, it’s different every time and I’ve had to learn to adapt quickly to different working styles.
Sometimes it’s just a brief that I am asked to fill, and other times it might be me pitching an idea to a client and having full creative license.
In my role now, I work with a lot of different creatives in-house, so it’s very collaborative and we can bounce ideas off each other. I’ve also gotten to know each art/creative director’s preferences which makes it easier the more we shoot together and we get in a really nice rhythm.
Canva Co-Founder Melanie Perkins, Image by Tammie Joske
What has been one of your favorite projects to work on so far? What would be your dream creative project or subject to shoot?
I’ve really been enjoying working in the studio lately. It’s not something I normally did or felt comfortable in for the most of my photography journey until the last couple of years, but what I am loving about it is that once my lighting is set up, it’s just me and my subject connecting and vibing. I have a lot of fun meeting new people and capturing their personalities.
With that said, I think I’m on the trajectory towards my dream projects, and in fact, already shooting the things I dreamed about years ago. My (current) big dream is to shoot celebrity portraits for publications like Variety (particularly an “Actors on Actors” series would be incredible) Time, Rolling Stone, etc. (If any photo editors from these mags are reading... call me haha).
Do you work on personal projects in addition to client work? If so, why are personal projects so important to pursue?
Sometimes! I’m a bit of a nerd because when people ask me what my hobbies are I say “taking photos.” But it’s true – one of my favorite things to do on a weekend is to roam the streets, or a busy beach or a tourist spot with a 35mm and just shoot from the hip. It’s a break from my usual work which is often heavily art-directed and involves many ‘chefs’ and stakeholders. This is just me, a roll of film, and whatever happens in front of my camera. It’s quite liberating. It also allows me to be creative without any constraints, use my eye in a different way, and keep me on my toes – working with the light and the conditions that nature gives me.
Shooting with film is also a humbling experience and another learning curve for me – film and digital cameras render light differently and I have to adapt the way I shoot to each, so it’s a good challenge to flip between the two.
Are there other photographers or resources that you turn to for inspiration?
I’m trying to move into looking at photo books as my first source of inspiration before going online, (current favourite: Modern Color - Fred Hezorg), but I do follow a lot of amazing photographers on Instagram. Some of my favourites are Joe Greer, David Urbanke, and Erik Carter. I also owe a lot of what I’ve learned to CreativeLive.
If you could only choose one camera body and one lens in your kit, which would you choose?
Tough question! It really depends on what subject I’m shooting. But I currently use a Canon R5, and my go-to lens for portraits is 85mm. Followed closely by 24-70mm.
My favourite film camera is my Fuji GW690 (fixed 90mm lens) which has these beautiful huge negatives and a stunning depth that I have not seen yet in any digital camera.
What advice would you give to new photographers who are just starting out or who are interested in pursuing commercial and editorial photography?
Just keep shooting!
What are you working on now and what’s up next for you?
We really hit the ground running at Canva this year, with two of our biggest campaign shoots within weeks of each other, so needless to say, I’ve been busy! I’m heading to LA next week for a really fun shoot, which I’m so excited about, but can’t say much more than that!
Thanks for sharing with us Tammie! To view more of Tammie’s work, visit her website and follow her on Instagram.
All images courtesy of Tammie Joske