Carbon

“Depending on where you look, what you touch, you are changing all the time. The carbon inside you, accounting for about 18 percent of your being, could have existed in any number of creatures or natural disasters before finding you. That particular atom residing somewhere above your left eyebrow? It could well have been a smooth, riverbed pebble before deciding to call you home.

You see, you are not so soft after all; you are rock and wave and the peeling bark of trees, you are ladybirds and the smell of a garden after the rain. When you put your best foot forward, you are taking the north side of a mountain with you.” — Ella Frances Sanders, Eating The Sun

Lean into the memory...

“She leans into the memory. She stares. She concentrates. What IS it that's she's looking for, trying to get straight at last?” ― Vivian Gornick, The Situation and the Story: The Art of Personal Narrative

Your life is a story — please DM to find out more about how i can document it through my photography and turn your sentiments into pictures ♡

You must learn one thing...

“You must learn one thing:

the world was made to be free in.

Give up all the other worlds

except the one to which you belong.

Sometimes it takes darkness and the sweet

confinement of your aloneness

to learn

anything or anyone

that does not bring you alive

is too small for you.” ― David Whyte

Storytelling....

interconnectedness, love and storytelling ♡ family photo sessions with me this summer ♡

Things i love...

One of the things that I love most about documenting families is coming back again each year -- telling your story and capturing your emotions as your family grows up and giving you everlasting memories is one of my favourite things.

Words of wisdom...

From my photo session with the artist Caroline Coon.... pls read her beautiful words of wisdom:

“On 5th August 2016, a white male Der Spiegle journalist aged 45 asked me this, a question fixed in status quo prejudice of independent women: “And your life now, how do you feel about it? You are not married. You have not had children. Do you feel any bitterness?”*

Since I understand journalism and the limitations of print, here is a full answer to this man’s question:

“My life has been blessed. Looking back at both the splendours and miseries I can only be profoundly thankful.

I have benefited from the political and social revolutionary struggles that have provided me with many enlightened, human, civil and legal rights.

I have been free to choose whether or not to get married.

I have been free to choose whether or not to have children.

I have been free to choose whether or not to have abortions.

I have been free to choose my sexual orientations.

I have been free to choose whether or not to have lovers.

Free speech and feminism have given me the freedom to be an artist.

For women in the West there has never been a better time, my lifetime, to live.

My life has been of my own volition.

My life has been everything I wanted it to be, and more.

My life is the antonym of bitterness!

To live my life truly and effectively I gave up the idea that I could, considering my limited talent, trying with hope to better my skills, also be financially wealthy.

To live my own life according to my own independent vision was, and is, richesse a plenty – to which I owe my happiness.

And, as far as I can, for the rest of my life, I intend to support all those who are steadfastly holding on to and improving and furthering this happy, liberationist and humanist agenda.””— Caroline Coon, artist

*Verbitterung?

Caroline Coon, artist

A few things I look for...

👋... here are a few things I look for when taking photos: the in between moments, beauty in the ordinary, the pauses, the spaces...

What do you look for in a photographer?

1 – Image quality/style? The quality of a photographer's portfolio should be the first thing that captures your attention. ...

2 – Personality? You put a lot of trust and faith in a photographer. ...

3 – Value for money/cost? ...

4 – Experience? ...

5 – Recommendations/Word of Mouth?.

Moondance

“One more moondance with you in the moonlight

On a magic night

La, la, la, la in the moonlight

On a magic night

Can't I just have one more dance with you my love” — Van Morrison

Summer photo sessions with me #southeastlondon // how would you like to be photographed?

Moondance — self portrait.

Rain Dance

It's looking like a perfect storm
Waiting for the clouds to open
Don't get wet and don't get caught
When it rains it pours — The Lions, When It Rains

Raindance — self portrait

The Silent Revolution

“People are illogical, unreasonable, and self-centered.

Love them anyway.

If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish ulterior motives.

Do good anyway.

If you are successful, you will win false friends and true enemies.

Succeed anyway.

The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow.

Do good anyway.

Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable.

Be honest and frank anyway.

The biggest men and women with the biggest ideas can be shot down by the smallest men and women with the smallest minds.

Think big anyway.

People favor underdogs but follow only top dogs.

Fight for a few underdogs anyway.

What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight.

Build anyway.

People really need help but may attack you if you do help them.

Help people anyway

Give the world the best you have and you’ll get kicked in the teeth.

Give the world the best you have anyway.”

Kent M Keith, The Paradoxical Commandments (The Silent Revolution)

Let the conversation begin...

Family photo sessions with me this summer. Let the conversation begin - send me your dates and what you're after and lets capture some memories for all time...

Performance

“Set up a situation that presents you with something slightly beyond your reach”

— Brian Eno

“Photo sessions with me // Whether you are an artist, a musician, a dancer, an entrepreneur, or you need a photo for your 'about me' page on your website, or simply a new Linkedin photo, I would love to hear from you.

From a session with local fitness trainer Rob Solly

I create bespoke imagery full of heart that reflects your unique needs and personality // please call me to start the conversation...

Floral prints by me...

“Dare to be naïve.” ― Richard Buckminster Fuller

I’ll be stocking my online shop soon with floral delights — giclée printed on fine art paper 325gsm hahnemuhle photo rag…

Those brief moments...

“Because it is occasionally possible, just for brief moments, to find the words that will unlock the doors of all those many mansions inside the head and express something - perhaps not much, just something {...}
Something of the inaudible music that moves us along in our bodies from moment to moment like water in a river.
Something of the spirit of the snowflake in the water of the river.
Something of the duplicity and the relativity and the merely fleeting quality of all this.
Something of the almighty importance of it and something of the utter meaninglessness.
And when words can manage something of this, and manage it in a moment, of time, and in that same moment, make out of it all the vital signature of a human being - not of an atom, or of a geometrical diagram, or of a heap of lenses - but a human being, we call it poetry.” Ted Hughes

Brief moments and human love // portrait sessions from £250

Fleeting moments...

“To love someone fiercely, to believe in something with your whole heart, to celebrate a fleeting moment in time, to fully engage in a life that doesn’t come with guarantees – these are risks that involve vulnerability and often pain. But, I’m learning that recognizing and leaning into the discomfort of vulnerability teaches us how to live with joy, gratitude and grace.” — Brené Brown, The Gifts of Imperfection

Capturing those fleeting moments from £250 with alexandradao.com

I would love to hear from you…. 07875 195876 or hello@alexandradao.com

Your story

Whether you are an author, an artist, a musician, a dancer, an entrepreneur, or you need a photo for your 'about me' page on your website, or simply a new Linkedin photo. I would love to hear from you.

Sessions start at £250

Summer photo sessions...

“Develop an interest in life as you see it; the people, things, literature, music - the world is so rich, simply throbbing with rich treasures, beautiful souls and interesting people. Forget yourself.” // Henry Miller

Capturing your moments this summer: birthdays, parties, anniversaries, holidays, any occasion // summer sessions starting at £250

Portrait sessions

“All human beings are also dream beings. Dreaming ties all mankind together.’ — Jack Kerouac

Seeing you // portrait photography with me... High Tribe Records // Callum

Whether you are an artist, a musician, a dancer, an entrepreneur, or you need a photo for your 'about me' page on your website, or simply a new Linkedin photo. I would love to hear from you.

Sessions start at £250

Movement and moments

“Movement never lies. It is a barometer telling the state of the soul's weather to all who can read it.” Martha Graham.

Portrait sessions with me from £250…

Here they come the beautiful ones...

“When we think of the past it's the beautiful things we pick out. We want to believe it was all like that.” ― Margaret Atwood, The Handmaid's Tale

My favourite flowers are in season and so I am running floral portrait sessions to capture your favourite flowers in bloom - either in your garden or here in my studio. Your flower is giclée printed on hahnemuhle paper giving it a painterly timeless feel ♡ Please DM to find out more ♡