Some photographers find their eye in a studio. Fiona Mullen found hers in the Atlantic Ocean in January, wetsuit on, camera in hand, swimming out through near-freezing swells on the Northeast coastline while everyone else stayed inside.
That image says a lot about how she works. There's an ease to her approach that only comes from someone who has been fully, literally immersed in her craft for over a decade, from the cold grey winters of the Northeast to the open light of Hawaii, Indonesia, Australia, and places well beyond. The world's surf breaks have taken her everywhere, and she's brought a camera to all of it.
Fiona grew up on the East Coast and studied Public Relations and Journalism at Monmouth University, graduating in 2019. But her real education happened in the water. She photographed her first wedding at sixteen in New York City and has been building her documentary style ever since, quietly and consistently, the kind of progress that shows up in the work rather than announcing itself.
She's recently traded New Jersey winters for the North Florida coast, settling in Atlantic Beach and finding her way to Fernandina more and more, partly because her parents retired here, and partly because the island has a way of doing that to people. It's easy to see why it stuck. The light here, the pace, the particular stretch of coastline — it suits her.
What she does best is find the moment that already exists. Whether that's a couple on a shoreline at sunrise, two people sharing a laugh between ceremony and reception, or the particular quality of light on an overcast morning, her images tend to feel less like photographs and more like something you actually remember. She's earned international recognition in the surf photography world for technical skill and an eye that doesn't fit neatly into any one category, and that same perspective is what she carries into every portrait session and wedding she photographs.
She's now part of the Shop 32034 family, and we couldn't be more glad she found her way here.
Interested in working with Fiona? You can learn more about her wedding and portrait sessions here.