Not your average kiwi.
Adventure loving and full of life Melissa grew up in a small lake side town on the West Coast of New Zealand’s South Island. A town of 40 people. Where wake boarding in summer and snowboarding in winter was her norm. Her childhood consisted of dirt bikes, the outdoors and road trip adventures. Deciding to leave behind a corporate career in her mid-twenties Melissa took that leap of faith and now has a lifestyle that resembles her childhood and dreams.
Graduating from Brisbane College of Photography and Art, it wasn’t long until Melissa’s first assisting position came with Australia’s top fashion photographer, Georges Antoni. Melissa then freelanced with other top photographers in Australia such as Simon Leikas, David Mandelberg, Juli Balla, Jake Terry and Daren MacDonald in order to gain experience with different aesthetic’s before her next goal, New York. Leaving Sydney Melissa moved to New York where she assisted photographers such as Craig McDean, Ethan James Green, Zoey Grossman, Yulia Gorbachenko, Benny Horne, Emma Summerton, Tyler Kohlhoff, and Bibi Borthwick.
During this time Melissa has consulted in lighting for clients such as Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Chloe, Tiffany & Co, Tommy Hilfiger, Helmut Lang, Victoria Secret, Nike, Puma and Athleta allowing her to work along names such as Bella Hadid, Travis Scott, Gwen Steffani, Hailey Bieber, Lebron James, Khloe Kardashian and Nicholas Cage to name a few. Her lighting work within the scope of magazines includes the likes of Vogue US/Mexico/Singapore, Bazaar, Vanity Fair, ELLE, WSJ and LVH.
Mid 2022 Melissa relocated to Los Angeles where she has since been embracing the Californian, Venice Beach lifestyle. Any moment she can she will be skateboarding, training in MMA, doing calisthenics and taking photographs of good energy people. Her aesthetic represents her lifestyle, her love for street culture and people chasing their passions and sharing those positive vibrations.
Although Melissa has worked on many high end large budget projects, 98% of the work within her portfolio is created with no budget or investments involved, just her unique skills with light and the incredible talent going for a walk chasing the light.
