syn (prefix):

“things that are like one another”

aesthete (noun):

someone with deep sensitivity

to the beauty of art or nature.

Hi, I’m Lauren…

and I write about, photograph, and film people with intense appreciation, curiosity, and sensitivity for the world — and its unfathomable beauty and mystery — around them.

A.k.a. — the kind of people that light my soul on fire; the realms where I feel most at peace and inspired, and have decided to spend most of my life inhabiting and endeavouring to capture.

Creative Offerings

Words

I have 13+ years of creative and professional writing experience tucked up my sleeve — everything from a Bachelors in the field to an internship with a major Australian newspaper, from reporting on a world-renowned sacred music festival in Fez, Morocco to freelancing on blogs around the world…I know how to wend the written word to convey deep emotions and visceral experiences. Everyone has a profound story to share; let me tell yours.

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Photos

Entirely self-taught in the realm of visual media, I cut my teeth on a camera during my half-decade as a solo world traveller, before landing my first proper gig at the Fez Festival of World Sacred Music. Though I took my skills of freeze-framing frenetic live performances back home to Australia and worked on countless media teams, my true passion is photojournalism and documentary-style photography; real people, real stories.

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Film

The newest skill in my mixed media toolkit. Again, I’m self-taught, and have plenty more to learn in this intricate discipline. My style is simple and stubbornly hand-held; philosophy being — not unlike the Japanese concept of wabi-sabi, in which an artist may mark their creations with a thumbprint or other blemish to signify beauty in imperfection — these imperfections remind us there is a human behind the camera, not a machine.

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  • Simplicity is generous; simplicity allocates space in one’s life for the things that really matter. And I believe simplicity deserves a seat at every wedding.

  • There’s a lot I could presume about Fez…and sense there’s more truth in what goes unsaid. In secrets I haven’t yet earned the right to hear. The kind of place you visit time and time again, only to realise you know less about it than when you started.

  • When I asked to take his picture he changed his shirt into something smarter, smoothing down creases in the mirror before posing. His life, however small a window I glimpsed, reminded me to strive to put my best qualities on display.

  • I caught this moment as it hurtled triumphantly towards towards the end of a day filled with exploring, candid people-watching and brilliant, brilliant colour.

  • Be unapologetic in what it is you want to become in this short life; whether that’s an environmental scientist, events planner, photographer, dance therapist, fire twirler...or bubble-blowing unicyclist pixie.

Are you an aesthete I’ve been looking for?

I love hearing from like-minded people. If you’ve got a question, comment, or like what I’m about and think we could create beautiful things together, then get in touch. You can shoot me an email at crabbela@gmail.com, or use this form.