Portraitist | Outlier | Detail Noticer | Lover of Faces | Positive Realist
Hi, I’m Amanda, and I make portraits that feel like exhalations.
There’s a stillness I’m always chasing in my portraits—not silence, but presence. A moment when someone stops posing and lets themselves be seen.
I work slowly and intentionally, creating space for you to arrive as you are. No forced smiles. No performance. Just the quiet beauty of you, exactly as you exist in this season of life. What really guides my work is a deep fascination with people. The way we carry ourselves, the way we soften, the way we show up for our own stories.
Portraits with me aren’t about looking perfect. They’re about being witnessed.
If that resonates, I’d love to photograph you.
Amanda Waschevski lives and works in Ipswich, Qld. Her work encompasses portraiture, headshots, editorial and commercial work for individuals, brands and entrepreneurs in Australia. She is the current president of the Professional Photographers’ Association of Queensland (2016-) and a member of the Ipswich Artist Run Initiative (2023-). Recent career highlights include Print People Photographer of the Year (2024) with the Australian Photographic Prize and the Brisbane Portrait Prize Salon des Refuses (2023). Amanda is currently working on a body of portraits in an untitled yet deeply personal exploration of the common threads of womanhood.
I love to dive deep into explorations of authentic expression – the stories behind the mask. For as long as I can remember, I have been fascinated by the human condition and the distance between who people are and how they present themselves. Being born and raised before the age of the internet, I’ve watched (and felt) that distance grow.
As a photographer, I believe it’s my responsibility to deliver a truthful moment. To me, a great portrait is a collaboration of two people, either side of a lens and my goal is to create a great portrait about my sitter that encourages the viewer to pause. Working closely with my sitters to craft light & pose that expresses the essence of their identity is where it starts.
Whether it’s bringing to light portraits that celebrate stories of progress, milestones and values or simple emotive moments, I strive to deliver a professional & personable service that has been honed over the past decade.
Dramatic contrasts and deep emotional narratives – the dance of light and shadow, reality and fantasy, transparency and vulnerability – have been the inspiration of most of my life and becoming a photographer has finally given me an outlet to express it. I didn’t pick up a camera with purpose until I turned 43 and one 4 week course on how to look at a photograph changed my life. I knew that creating portraits would be what I’d do for the rest of it.
My personal work explores the unmasking of expression and the status of women in contemporary society.
Amanda is a Certified Professional Photographer and current president of the Professional Photographers' Association of Queensland. The PPAQ guarantees the highest standards in professional photography, ensuring exceptional imagery, business probity and client confidence.
Amanda is the first photographer in the Southern Hemisphere to have been qualified as a Portraitist with the Headshot Crew.
Amanda is also a volunteer photographer with Heartfelt - a volunteer organisation of professional photographers dedicated to giving the gift of photographic memories to families who have experienced stillbirth or have children with serious or life threatening illness.
