Tell us about yourself and what you do?
Hi, I’m Somala. I’ve been living in Melbourne for the last 7 years with my husband but was born and raised in Noosa (Gubbi Gubbi country), QLD.
Growing up in a small beach town, I was always curious about other places and left home at 18 with my best friend to go live and travel overseas. I spent that time much of my 20’s experiencing lots of different things and worked hard to facilitate that exploration, as I really got to know myself better as an adult. I experienced living in London, spent six months in an off-grid community on a beach in Turkey working at a scuba hut, did a stint of marine conservation in Fiji, a snow season with my now, husband, spent a winter in the Scottish Highlands, a summer living in a caravan in Cornwall, and studied, amongst some other things along the way.
I now work in wellness as a chiropractor, calming my clients nervous systems, so that they can express their unique gifts in this life with more ease.
Following the things that light me up, creativity has been a huge part of my own wellness journey. Pursuing my love of photography guides me to want to spend time taking in and appreciating details. I love spending time in thoughtfully curated spaces, nature and exploring cities and streets of old, sunny suburbs. I am always on the lookout for cute elements of nostalgia – the perfectly imperfect things. I also love styling the different nooks of our home so that it is a calm but inspiring sanctuary to come home to and spend time in. I love taking photos of all of these things and find the philosophy of Wabi-Sabi guides my creativity the most.
Have you always had an interest in photography?
Yes. My mum has a background in photography and she had a small darkroom set up in our home when I was little. Mum bought me an old, second hand Pentax and lenses for my 13th birthday and my bestie and I joined the school photography club “Shutterbugs”. It was pre-digital photography so it was great to learn with film but we both had digital cameras by the time we set off on our overseas adventures. Our first couple of years of travel was pre-social media so none of our photos were edited and we were just learning how to use basic photographic principals of composition.
As the years went on and social media became a thing, I experimented and had fun with different editing tools, finding and honing my aesthetic and composition. Photography is definitely my favourite creative outlet, it just really fills my cup to capture & edit details in nature, cites and old suburbs. Colours, textures, architectural shapes and lettering of the mid-century era are my favourite things to document. With so many kit homes and mass produced everything, I love capturing things that remain from older eras while they still stand – things get knocked down and replaced so quickly!
What inspired you to begin the project, palmbreeze house?
Palmbreeze House account was originally Riverbreeze House, which I created to help promote my parents Airbnb. They had recently finished a second renovation of our family home (my dad is a builder and my mum a ceramicist) and were heading off on their own adventure, so put the house on Airbnb for the better part of 2019 while they were away. I started the page to help get the house out there for Airbnb but also because it gave me an excuse to post my captures of Noosa in context and also interior shots of the house, which I loved taking whenever I was home.
The house hosted lots of guests and was hired for some beautiful brand shoots, before they sold it at the start of this year to move on to their next project, “Palmbreeze House”. So now I’m using the account to document the design and build of the next house which is another home that focuses on clean lines, open, welcoming, breezy spaces and nostalgic, mid-century elements.
What kind of flower brings you the most joy?
Everlasting/paper daisies (the white ones with the pink and yellow centres) & peonies (fresh or dried). I also adore the well-loved rose bushes that bloom in the front gardens of our neighbourhood in Spring – and the perfume of jasmine vines!
What’s your creative process?
I love exploring streets in neighbourhoods and cities and just looking out for little details to snap with my camera. I’m always looking for things that catch my eye when I’m out and about. I might go back to a spot a few times to get the right sunlight or blue sky. I love editing photos in my down time, in my favourite spaces in our home, with some music, natural light or low light with some candles or incense burning in ceramics made by my mum around me. Smell, sound and warm light help get me in a creative zone.
Are there any other photographers or stylists that inspire you?
Photographers: Justin Chung, Ali Mitton, Jamie Green, Boguang Sun.
Stylists: Serena Mitnik-Miller (General Store), Alison Carroll (Wonder Valley)
what about music, art, books, that you’re loving right now?
Wabi-Sabi Welcome by Julie Pointer Adams, The New Mediterranean by Gestalten, Abode by Serena Mitnik-Miller & love artwork by Daren Thomas Magee, John Zabawa and Bonnie Gray.
How has COVID affected your way of life, any top tips on surviving lockdown?
My husband and I have been very fortunate in that our work situations have not been affected, so our days are just to and from work to home. The extra time around the home has really opened up a lot of conversation about or values and just re-evaluating where we are with those at this stage of our life and what we want to change moving forward after all of this.
I think the best thing I have done to survive the extra time at home is just move and change things up around the house to give it some fresh feels! Changing plants around, photography on the walls, furniture rearranging – it’s definitely helped having some changes to what our eyes are seeing every day!
Favourite weekend activity?
In Melbourne, a drive out to the forest to go for a hike with our dog, coffee in one of our favourite spots on our local High Street, or taking some street snaps and doing some editing at home amongst the plants.
