NINA GOKS
I love the beach and babies’ breath. Sunrise and stormy weather.
THIS IS US
This is Jack,Ruka,Dusky and Velzy. My home, my world,
my reason to be.
My dream day begins with a slow morning. The smell of coffee in the kitchen, ritual moments of pouring it. Bathing, playing with the kids, breastfeeding. Grounded in my people, my place, my extraordinary normal.
Then to the beach. Somewhere quiet, unspoilt, unhurried. Where nature, laughter and our children playing is the sound. We share good food together. Not necessarily expensive, or elaborate. Just good. We drive home together through the beautiful backroads. A movie. A meal. We read to our children in the low sunlight as they get sleepy. And as the shuffles and bumps from upstairs give way to sleep, I spend a few hours alone with the love of my life soaking up the last moments of the day. We love art and movies.
We love tasty food, sleepy cuddles and days of adventure. We surround ourselves with friends and family, a tight-knit blanket around our lives. We aren’t complicated, my little crew and I. But we draw happiness from each other, and my goodness, are we content.
I’M ALL ABOUT
THE DRAMA OF CINEMA, THE DELICACY OF BRUSH Strokes
MY JOURNEY —
When Ruka was born I saw the world with new eyes, and my life was cut cleanly in two.
A binary then and now. Priorities and concerns were reshuffled and replaced. My heart was flooded with a raw love that ached, shaped, and breathed. They say ‘it’s not that deep’. But for me, it is that deep. I see deep, I feel deep. Motherhood has become my definition. And as Ruka’s birth reminded me of the fragile impermanence of life, I found a new direction in my own.
I’ve always adored photography. Fuelled by my love of art and movies, and informed by obsessive years spent in the darkroom at school. But when Ruka was born, this affection became an avenue for expression. My boundless love needed to be given substance, and photography became its outlet.
And as I realised I could do it for myself, I wanted to do it for others. To give other mothers beautiful, emotive art that puts them in the frame with their children. And gives expression to the love that has come to define them.
MY INSPIRATION
MY INSPIRATION —
My work serves as a summary of all that I love in the world. Pre-Raphaelite postures inspired by my love of classical art. Framing from my lifelong love-affair with cinema. Compositions mirroring movies I’ve paused mid-frame.
When I’m working with couples, I can’t help but think of Jack. When I’m capturing motherhood, I see in them the same love that consumes me. I suppose upon reflection, my photography is an extension of self. A way of taking all that I love and scattering it out further into the world.
