Inspired Magazine

Honoured to have been selected for the trip,
Alex was gobsmacked when World Expeditions
asked what other destinations she’d like to visit
as expedition photographer.
“Scott, the World Expeditions
representative, said ‘great, we’ll
do India and what about the
rest?’ I said ‘what do you mean?’
He said ‘let us know your top six places
you want to go and we’ll organise it.”
Alex couldn’t believe her luck. She’s since
led a trip to Antarctica for World Expeditions,
trips to Cambodia and Vietnam, and will take
photographers on a trip to Sri Lanka to see
bears and leopards, and visit a baby elephant
orphanage in 2017.
For Alex, the best part of the trips is spending
time with people who share her love of animals.
“I remember in India … we stopped in Jaipur and
there was a stunning palace built in the middle of
a lake,” she says. “My tour group was standing at
the railing on the edge of the water and I heard
them calling out to me. They were so excited and
I looked and they were pointing their lenses down
in the mud to rats – water rats had made tunnels
in the muddy embankment. They were so thrilled
to see the water rats poking their heads out of
their mud homes. And I thought ‘oh my goodness,
these are just the best bunch of animal people. I’m
definitely in the right company’.”
SAVING ANIMAL LIVES
While she relishes the chance to travel, Alex is
conscious it’s her paying pet portrait clients who
enable her to live the life she loves. She sees her
pet photography not just as her lifestyle, but as
a way of promoting the joy animals can bring to
people’s lives. This is also the ethos behind Alex’s
books – Mother Knows Best – Life Lessons from
the Animal World; Joy, A Celebration of the Animal
Kingdom’; and Zen Dogs.
“Whether they are local endangered wildlife,
abused farm animals, unwanted old pets in
shelters, malnourished Balinese street dogs or
Asian bears with missing paws, my intention is to
capture their faultless spirit in a fresh, new way,”
she says. “The right image viewed by the right
person can mean a dog is re-homed, a donation
is made, or that media will run a story to increase
awareness, which hopefully, ultimately, will inspire
change.”
Get involved
For more information on Alex and her work visit
her website www.houndstoothstudio.com.au.