Close to the start of 2023, I bid farewell to the postcard-perfect vibes of Byron Bay, Australia— enveloped by a natural disaster (flooding + housing crisis: my flatmate and I had to live in a house with flood damage and no internal walls for 12 months), a challenging work dry-spell, and finally, a mysterious and major-esque illness (an autoimmune condition called Lupus, as it turns out, that used my kidneys as a punching bag, leaving me at stage 4 CKD, is how the professionals might classify it, and I suspect highly related to much of the above). Yep, the universe decided to shake things up in a fairly major way for me. But amidst the chaos, I had my sights set on something that some might see as the complete opposite—moving to New York City. Jump forward a little, and many emails and a few late-night calls later, my now photography Agent, Kate Ryan Inc., saw something special, and suddenly, I'm signing papers to work in the city that never sleeps.
The flooding was certainly something. I know a lot of people had it far worse than me, and still do, but when your home is no longer a beautiful sanctuary, it can cause havoc in all parts of your life. Like a bad relationship, I didn’t leave. Stemming from this, the kidney-affecting autoimmune condition caused my feet to swell badly (this was the first sign), and then my body began to deteriorate rapidly.
Ultimately the illness caused me to loose 8kg(17lb) in two months, and not in a good way. Before that I was one of those people that never got sick, even during the time of you know what. I was going to pilates four times a week, eating clean and organic, and transcendental meditating twice daily.
Call it fate or a cosmic test, but within every challenge lies an opportunity. During the start of my healing, I was blessed to be able to live for months with my beautiful family and heal while waiting for my US work visa to come through.
We cooked and laughed, and got fit together. Looking back, this was nourishing for all of our souls.
Humor was an important part of this process, as I slept in the bedroom next to my parents—Dad’s snoring also prepared me for the nighttime noises of the big city. Real-life sitcom material, right? But truly so wonderful.
Upon signing my work contract, and alongside substantial and active healing, challenge number two was the notorious New York apartment hunt.
Now, I had two things that were not negotiable with where I wanted to live—Number 1 was an elevator, given the amount of “stuff” that I need as a photographer. Also, I don't even know what the other thing was now because the following memory was so traumatic.
Manhattan was also the ‘famous photographer’ dream, but destiny had different plans. Enter Jasmine Dwyer (pictured in the opening photo), my little NY guardian angel, with the recent availability of a tiny studio apartment in a Brooklyn neighborhood I'd never heard of.
If there were cameras in the stairwell of the day that I arrived during a 37-degree-heat-wave, you could have shot the scene of a comedy-drama—I looked down at my badly swollen feet and my now fragile 70Kg(154lb) @ 6’1”, and my two international-sized suitcases and carry-ons, and looked up at the FIVE flights of stairs before me.... I said out loud "if I don't die when I get to the top, I'm meant to be here.”
I cried. I didn’t leave the apartment for 2 days.
Four months on, and I'm here—happy, healthier than ever (I can talk more about how I healed myself without medication if anyone’s interested), and eternally grateful. Thanksgiving in America takes on a whole new meaning for me this year. Those 5 flights of stairs across the other side of the world literally saved my life (one of the best things for Kidney healing is increasing blood flow).
If you've stuck around for this story, thank you again. Thank you to my family, my friends old and new, clients and patrons, and the challenges and blessings alike. As a token of appreciation, enjoy a glimpse into my lens with a collection of recent shots— not trying to sell anything, it's just a small collection of a few things that I've shot recently that feel a little bit of New York and a little bit of me!
Wishing you an incredible Thanksgiving filled with warmth, joy, and a moment to reflect on your own extraordinary journey and the things that we have in life that bring us joy.
With gratitude and love,
Davo
