About me

A woman with blue eyes looks up and away, a pink knitted blanket at her shoulder.

I believe the best photographs come from trust, not performance.

I'm Petra, a photographer based in Shoreham-by-Sea, working with people from all walks of life to make images that feel natural, honest, and true to you.

Woman writing in a notebook outdoors, dappled autumn light around her.

Connection first

We talk, we settle in, and we take time

Before I pick up the camera, I focus on connection. When things feel unhurried, something genuine begins to appear, not because you're trying, but because there's room for you to be as you are. That's where the photographs start.

Woman curled up reading in an armchair beside a large houseplant.

Real places

Somewhere you don't have to pretend

I work in real spaces: your home, your workplace, your studio, or outdoors somewhere familiar. I don't move you into shapes or ask you to "be" anything. I watch, listen, and respond to what's already there.

Man in a navy t-shirt writes at a desk beside a large green houseplant.

The in-between moments

Gentle and observational

I'm drawn to the small, in-between moments: the laugh after the thought, the pause before the sentence, the concentration, the ease. Those often say more than any polished pose ever could.

What matters to me is simple and human

Lived-in and grounded

Photographs that feel lived-in and grounded, not staged.

Calm, honest, recognisable

Images that feel calm and honest, and look like the person you see every day.

How it felt to be there

Portraits that reflect not just how you look, but how it felt to be there.

A woman balances in a yoga pose in a golden field of long grass.

I'd love to work with you

If you're looking for photographs made with care, ease, and real attention, tell me a little about what you have in mind.