What gift do you send your best friend of 19 years who is recovering from a double organ transplant on the other side of the world? If you’re Renae Saxby, you might send a heartfelt ‘get well soon’ video message direct from Stevie Wonder.
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For the past five years Renae has travelled the world splitting her time between travel and music photography. It is a juxtaposing practice that gives her access to the epicentre of the international music scene, while also immersing her in some of the most remote corners of the world.
Her self-carved career path has seen her shoot music heavyweights such as Santana, Tash Sultana, Anderson Paak, and Toni Childs, while her travel photography has led her to shoot the Dalai Lama’s 80th birthday in his home temple in Dharamsala, Burning Man festival in the Nevada desert and live in remote Nepal for months at a time.
“My work life is the ultimate contrast,” she says. “I get to be inspired by musicians from all around the world, but then I love experiencing community living and the simplicity of life in a village. Everything is always different and changing, but that just makes me feel more alive.”
Raised in Maitland, music was central to her life growing up. She spent most of her weekends at The Junkyard Hotel with her younger brothers Daniel and Mitchell.
“It would start Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday – and it would be all live gigs. I’ve always been involved in the music industry in some way. I’ve tried to get away from it but I’ve just had to accept that’s where I am meant to be,” she says.
But the idea of a creative career initially wasn’t an obvious choice for her.
“I was offered a scholarship to study photography in Sydney, but I didn’t take it. People had convinced me that you couldn’t have a career in the arts. So I studied beauty therapy and opened my own salon,” she says.
Despite the success of the salon, Renae could not shake her restlessness.
“When I was working at the spa I felt numb and uninspired. I realised I wanted to live an inspired life, so I closed the doors and hit the road with my camera,” she says.
Starting with travel photography in Cambodia (a one-month trip that extended into six), Renae then began working with fashion labels and lifestyle brands such One Teaspoon and Wolven Threads. What followed was a continuous series of idiosyncratic moments and meetings that has led to her travelling non-stop for the past five years.
“It isn’t always glamorous as it seems. In the travel world, I’m often sleeping on dirt floors, living in a hut, eating village food. And the music world – it’s a rugged lifestyle always being on the road. But they are some of my favourite parts,” she says.
The lightning speed in which her career has developed is a testament to her ability to create long-lasting connections with the people and places she shoots.
“In music it’s capturing what musicians are expressing. I’m watching their eyes and what they are feeling. With travel, I’m spending real time with people. For me it’s about encouraging people to get out in the world slowly and with intention. And raising awareness of the issues faced by people living in remote areas.” she says.
This slow immersive form of travel, which Renae so passionately subscribes to, has also seen her undertake aid work in the Philippines and Nepal. One such project Footprints in Nepal, in memory of her younger brother Daniel, has committed her to supporting three children orphaned in the devastating 2015 Nepal earthquake.
For now, she has created a base in Byron Bay, but this could change at any moment.
Renae is planning an exhibition in Newcastle and Byron Bay of her music photography as a sequel to her exhibition of travel photography held last year at The Edwards.
Instagram: @renaesaxby / @renaesaxbymusic
