SHE_SEES

Rewriting Women into Maritime History is an international initiative developed in partnership with Lloyd’s Register Foundation, with Emilie appointed as Creative Lead for the entire project and Photographer for the contemporary strand. The initiative brings together material dispersed across archives—beginning in the UK and Ireland and expanding internationally from 2024—to identify, document, and place women’s contributions to the shipping industry into the public domain for the first time.

The project seeks to raise the profile of women’s expertise, experience, and leadership within maritime history; to challenge and reframe long-standing narratives around women in maritime; and to actively support equality, diversity, inclusion, and opportunity across the sector.

The initiative is led by Sama Creatives, the creative studio founded by Emilie and Karl, working from concept through to delivery. SAMA Creatives specialise in shoot-to-exhibition projects, combining photography, film, design, spatial storytelling, and interpretation to create immersive public-facing exhibitions that engage diverse audiences and bring underrepresented stories into view.

SHE_SEES is the public showcase for Rewriting Women into Maritime History, structured around the themes Then, Now, and Onward. In 2023, Emilie travelled across the UK to photograph twenty-three professional women working across a wide range of maritime roles, creating a contemporary visual record of women shaping the industry today. As co-participants, the women’s stories, perspectives, and lived experiences actively inform the creative outcome.

The work is grounded in the belief that “if you don’t see it, you can’t be it.” By making women’s expertise and leadership visible, SHE_SEES aims to inspire younger generations of women, highlight the breadth of careers available across the maritime sector, and encourage wider participation by challenging outdated perceptions of the industry.

Phase Two is now underway and will expand the project internationally, working with women across global maritime communities.

M is for Mothers

As a parentless parent, I've often navigated the complexities of motherhood without the guidance of my own parents. Seeking connection and understanding, I embarked on a project to explore the diverse experiences of other mothers.

Through a combination of intimate photography and personal journaling, M for Mothers offers a candid look into the lives of eleven women. By capturing both the mundane and the extraordinary moments of motherhood, the project aims to challenge societal expectations and normalize the often-hidden realities of parenting.

Each photograph is a collaborative effort, born from a trusting relationship between the photographer and the subject. By sharing their stories and allowing their homes to be documented, the mothers have created a space for vulnerability and honest self-reflection.

The project highlights the emotional and physical challenges of motherhood, while also celebrating its joys and triumphs. By sharing these intimate moments, "M is for Mothers" offers a sense of solidarity and understanding to parents everywhere.

A Mothers Gaze

A Mothers Gaze is a poignant photographic series that follows eleven mothers through their journey from pregnancy to toddlerhood. Captured by Emilie Sandy, the project documents the transformative power of motherhood through a series of triptych portraits.

Each triptych showcases a mother in a specific yoga pose: pregnant, with a newborn, and with a two-year-old. The images offer a glimpse into the physical and emotional changes that accompany motherhood, from the anticipation of pregnancy to the challenges and joys of raising young children.

The project also highlights the importance of community and support for new mothers. By participating in yoga classes, the women were able to connect, share experiences, and find solace in their shared journey.

Through these intimate portraits, "A Mother's Gaze" celebrates the strength, resilience, and love of mothers, while also acknowledging the challenges and complexities of parenthood.

I Found a Small Lemon Tree is a poignant and deeply personal exploration of grief and the enduring power of memory. Through a series of photographs and written reflections, Emilie Sandy traces her own journey through loss, using image-making as a way to hold, revisit, and gently reframe what remains.

The work explores how memory is preserved—both through physical objects and through emotional recall—allowing past and present to sit alongside one another. The photographs often move between temporal moments, reflecting the cyclical nature of life, grief, and renewal, and how loss continues to shape our inner and outer worlds over time.

Central to the project is the lemon tree itself, which becomes a quiet but powerful symbol of life, growth, and resilience. It represents the persistence of love and memory, even in the aftermath of loss, and offers a sense of continuity where absence might otherwise dominate.

Photography functions here as a therapeutic and reflective tool: a means of processing grief, finding moments of solace, and creating space for contemplation. The project’s emotional resonance lies in its raw honesty and vulnerability. By sharing her experience, Sandy invites connection rather than resolution, offering viewers the space to reflect on their own memories, emotions, and experiences of loss.

The result is an intimate body of work that holds grief not as something to be fixed, but as something that can be witnessed, shared, and quietly transformed.

For more information on projects relating to Grief, visit Picture My Grief