published work

My name is Manille Joy Faraci.  

I am the main photographer at Faraci Productions. I now also work with a small team of like-minded and experienced photographers who assist and shoot with me during events and weddings and my husband (not a photographer) who helps with a lot of the behind the scene stuff. 

I first learnt photography with a Pentax film camera back in 1998 and spent all my spare time after school developing photos in the darkroom. I worked at my parents fish and chips shops since I was 11 and I used a lot of my disposable income on film and developing photos of my friends and family.  I still have the boxes of photos from that time filled with images of my youth at parties and plenty of memories of growing up.

I continued photographing when I finished high school for myself but when I turned 21, I decided to take my passion to the next level. I started a degree in Photography at Griffith University - Queensland College of Art in 2008. My majors were in Photojournalism and Journalism Writing and minor in Integrated studies. I took classes in video journalism and took on photography internships in Australia in news photography and had some photos featured and printed in newspaper articles. I also was able to travel to China, Cambodia and Vietnam a few months in total working with NGO's and covering real stories about the lives of the people living there and exhibited work in a handful of exhibitions in Australia and in China. I feel lucky that I was surrounded by the best photography lecturers, tutors and students in Queensland as well as in Australia and it was a great place for me to be pushed outside my comfort zone and produce work that not only could appeal to the eye but had meaning and purpose.

My style has always been a mix of photojournalism, art and commercial. Even when I was at Uni, the corresponding lecturers and tutors for these majors told me that my style was more their field of photography which made it super confusing settling on just one major.  All I knew was I wanted to take photos with a story.

I would love to tell your story. Whether it is simply how you met, what makes you unique as a family and what makes you stand out as a person. The real you, your true story. I think this always makes for more interesting photographs, since we are already bombarded with so much imagery. It is ok to be different in this cookie cutter world.

I shoot from the heart and shoot more how it feels. I capture those quiet moments, the smiles from your mother, tears from your father, cheeky poses of your kids, the look on your partner's face when they first saw you walk down the aisle. Of course, I can also take those normal portraits. I believe these are also important but I see the beauty in those in between moments too. 

I have spent most of my 20's travelling and have backpacked over 35 countries and lived in 4. In this time, I grew as a photographer not because I shot the most (I actually shot the least during this time) but I observed more. I was more in the moment and realised how many small moments are just as important as the big ones. 

Four family members were taken from me in the space of 5 years, two during my Uni times as well as my parents separated after 25 years in what was meant to be my final year of Uni. I had to take an extra year to complete my degree to help balance everything as I also worked 3 part-time jobs, lived out of home and was studying a very expensive degree but I pushed myself and finished a year later, with very few people knowing what I was going through. Even though it was the roughest time in my life, my passion for photography and to follow my dreams were stronger then all the obstacles. That time taught me resilience and it is where I now gain strength.  

It taught me life is amazing but fragile and fleeting. You only have so much time in the world, but you never know exactly how long and to just cherish every moment.

If I can be part of capturing these times for you, I would be so honoured. Photography for me is not about making the most bookings and becoming insta famous. I was shooting since the days of film, way before the notion of getting the most likes or followers determining someone's ability or worth.  I still do it for the love of it. It is the feeling I get making someone so happy by taking their photographs and knowing that I was part of capturing that moment in time for them, makes me feel so fulfilled. I have given a lot to make sure this is now my main job, so that I can wake up every day knowing I am using the most of my time and doing what I love.

Because in the end, isn't that what we all want. To live your best life.

If you feel you connect with me and my work and would like to make magic, then feel free to message me for a chat and catch up over a lychee bubble tea (Asian life)