I’m Carla, a family photographer based in Dubai, a mother and a chef. I’ve always been drawn to the small details that make everyday life feel personal and worth remembering.

The way a child reaches for your hand. The mess left on the kitchen table after breakfast. The light coming through a familiar window. The expressions, routines and little gestures that seem completely ordinary while they’re happening, but often become the things we remember most.

Becoming a mother changed the way I looked at photography. It made me much more aware of how quickly childhood changes and how easy it is to forget the feeling of a particular season. That is one of the reasons I’m so drawn to documentary family photography and motherhood photography. I’m less interested in creating perfect images and much more interested in preserving real family life as it is.

I also have a deep love for analog photography and film photography. I love the slower process, the texture, the imperfections and the way film makes you pay attention. For me, photographs on film feel very close to memory itself. They are soft, imperfect and sometimes unexpected, but they carry a feeling that is difficult to reproduce.

My family photography sessions are relaxed and unhurried. I don’t want children to perform for the camera or families to feel like they need to become a perfect version of themselves. I want children to move, play and be curious. I want parents to feel comfortable. Sometimes I’ll offer a little direction, but most of the time I’m looking for the moments that happen naturally in between.

My background as a chef also shapes the way I see family life. Food, kitchens, recipes and family rituals carry so much of our history. The meals we make for our children, the recipes we repeat and the places where we gather all become part of childhood. In many ways, photography and food do the same thing for me. They help us hold onto something that would otherwise disappear.

My work is centred around family, childhood, motherhood, matrescence and the everyday rituals that shape our lives. Whether I’m photographing a family at home, a maternity session, a newborn or a day spent outdoors, I want the photographs to feel honest and personal.

I want to create images that do more than show what your family looked like. I want them to bring you back to how this chapter of your life felt.

Because the ordinary is worth remembering.

Based in Dubai, available internationally.