Elle Marinucci is passionate about capturing deep emotions and connections through photography, producing beautiful images that will forever enrich the lives of those in them. She wants to tell your story and document this wonderful and transformative time in your life, from stunning pregnancy images through to vibrant family photos – capturing special moments in time that you can hold on to forever. Here, she talks to The Natural Parent Magazine about the inspiration behind Rock n Roll Mama Photography, her passion for photography and her hopes and dreams for the future.
The passion: What inspired you to set up your business?
The inspiration behind Rock n Roll Mama was to create a storyboard, so to speak, to document some of the wonderful and transformative times in your lives. Rock n Roll Mama is a lifestyle photography project specialising in vibrant family photography, and promotional photography for musicians. Weird mix of niche, but you’ve gotta shoot from the heart. Mamas and musicians actually have a lot in common- you’re both giving all you’ve got to bring something beautiful into this world, and you’re doing it out of love.
The launch: How did you start out in the beginning?
I was unbelievably lucky to spend two and a half years travelling extensively through Europe and living in London. Arriving, as fortune would have it, back in Australia just before the first whispers of Covid. During this journey, I created a photographic travelogue of my adventures, often working for board at summer camps and backpackers. While in London, through word of mouth and Instagram, I was invited to shoot events, and collaborated with a few models and artists. This is how I started honing my skills and how I knew from the beginning that photography was a journey I had to continue to explore.
To get the portfolio together, I would reach out to friends, family, everyone I knew to shoot. My brother is a muso and my sister was having a baby so they were a perfect start. As I’m writing this, I’m realising just how great – my brother being a fellow artist would have so many of his own ideas and inspiration. We could spitball together and come up with really cool concepts. And with him being in a band, I had to learn how to collaborate and create work that suited their expression, and how to direct multiple models at once. My sister on the other hand, dabbles in her share of creative hobbies, but has a pretty “don’t care” attitude about having her picture taken. When it came to our shoots, she was happy to give me full creative licence and claimed to have no expectations. She did, however, tell me she loved them and said they look “really good”, which might not sound like much, but coming from her is the highest praise. We’d create some magic together and everyone would be happy with the result at the end of the day.
The innovation: What was the biggest breakthrough for you with your business?
Finding my niche. I love photography, and the journey has been nothing but rewarding and full of teachable moments. I’ll happily shoot almost anything, especially people, but my real favourite things to shoot are Maternity, Family, and Promotional Music photography. I love the deep emotions and connections. I love the aesthetic and the potential. I love that the photos will forever enrich the lives of those in them: whether you’re sending them to family on the other side of the world, looking back at how much has changed over time, looking at them tomorrow and being reminded how much love you have in your life, or in the promotional sense, using the images alongside your music to progress your career.
Yin and Yang: How do you balance work and family?
I’ve become pretty good at recognising and setting boundaries. This is so important. I try to do as much work as I can during business hours, and keep lists of everything that needs to be done, deadlines noted to stay on top of things. Photography though, is a passion. I always want to shoot so it does sneak in. There’s magic everywhere.
