Inspired by the beauty of women and motherhood, Bec Wood uses her creativity and talent for photography to empower women through her photographs. Through her photography business, Wild Flow Her, she celebrates women and their unique, natural beauty.
The Passion: What inspired you to set up your business?
I found a love of and an admiration for women through motherhood. To say motherhood inspires me would be an understatement. My whole world shifted when I became a mother, something I can’t quite articulate, but it has been an absolute rebirth. A journey that continually sees me grow and evolve for the better.
I was a zookeeper when I became pregnant; working 8-day shifts, weekends, public holidays and Christmas. I needed something that was not only more balanced but less emotionally and physically taxing as well. After an incredible homebirth I started teaching childbirth education but felt I needed a creative outlet. Having a daughter also heightened my awareness of what the world’s perceptions of women and mothers are, and my responsibility for how she may be conditioned to perceive that too. I feel I have found a way to combine female empowerment with creativity.
This work is more important than I first realised, and I am learning more about its value every day with every woman I see through the lens who tells me how being photographed by me has helped her in some way. It is healing for me too. I get to connect with such a variety of women, and all are just utterly beautiful in their unique ways. It is my mission to minimise the impact and hurt my daughter feels growing up in her own skin and her changing body. Her social conditioning will not be as big a burden as my own has been and any woman, mother or daughter, who can see the beauty of women through my eyes will only feel love for each other and themselves. Wild Flow Her is all about changing that narrative for women and mothers.
The Launch: How did you start out in the beginning?
I am very much still starting out. 10 months ago, I had a real pull towards creativity and really craved an outlet for this so I decided to pick up a camera and just go for it. Previously I had taken a few photos here and there but didn’t put any effort into showcasing any of them, so I set up an Instagram account and started sharing a few images and people started asking for photoshoots. I decided from the beginning that my muse was motherhood and women and that I wanted to celebrate and show them in an authentic way. I have so much more to learn in terms of my technical and business skills, but creatively I have fallen into a bit of a niche and I am loving it.
The innovation: What was the biggest breakthrough for you with your business?
It is quite simply the overwhelming response to my art. From the women I photograph to photographers I admire to this magazine wanting to feature me in it. I have been absolutely blown away with love and support. The feeling of validation continues to inspire and push me forward out of my comfort zone to keep delivering authentic, real moments in time for those who want to hold on to them.
Yin and Yang: How do you balance work and family?
Family definitely comes first. But I think the clients I work with appreciate that honesty and so it works. We don’t live in the same state as our family so we don’t have them around to help out but my husband and I are a great parenting team and he and my daughter are my biggest fans. I mostly shoot while she is at school and we can make a plan together for shoots that might require a different time frame or shoot location.
It’s not always easy. Sometimes I am looking forward to getting straight into editing a shoot, or I’ve just found my rhythm editing something, or I have a backlog of things to do but I have to be a mum before I can get stuck into anything.
I have taken my daughter to photoshoots before, which has always been fun too. I love that she knows what I do and more importantly why I do it. She sees me being creative, having fun and getting paid for something I love. She sees me empower other women and she sees their response to their photoshoots. I feel incredibly grateful to be able to share this with her.
The drive: What challenges have you overcome?
A constant and frustrating challenge would have to be social media censorship. I shoot real, raw moments and I am constantly faced with images being removed and threats of being deactivated on these platforms. Not only do I find this difficult as a small business but also as a woman, a mother and an artist who has to censor the female form in the name of a misguided and outdated guideline.
For the better part of this year, my Instagram account has been shadow banned, which means my work is very difficult to find. Hashtags, explore options and recommendations do not showcase my account. I’ve even had people type in my account name and have nothing come up at all. It is at the same time humbling to see my growth slowly but steadily continue in the face of such a challenge. I am confident in time these guidelines will change and we can celebrate and honour female bodies without shame, judgement or censorship getting in the way.
For better or worse: What are the pros and cons of running your own business?
I read a meme the other day that said ‘if you see me talking to myself, don’t worry, I’m in a staff meeting.’ That sums up one of the cons that’s for sure. It can be pretty daunting being a one-woman show. There is a level of isolation which can sometimes feed fear and doubt. At the same time there is a beautiful community of photographers out there – and many have become really good friends of mine – who have shown me nothing but immense support and love.
The biggest pro would be that I can schedule time off without permission and I am able to be there for my daughter ANY time and that is priceless.
Hopes and Dreams: What next?
My biggest dream is to be able to travel and photograph at the same time. With my family spread out over the east coast of Australia between Queensland and Tasmania, I am travelling from west to east often. To be able to connect with women and mothers all over Australia would be amazing. There is also such widespread beauty here in WA that I would love to be able to travel around the state as much as possible too. As a creative, the different locations would be such a spark of joy and to be able to incorporate work and play and be regularly connected with family would be the ultimate for me.
To see more of Bec’s work at Wild Flow Her, check out her on Facebook and Instagram.
