Human Stories
by Christine Tan
Hello, Thanks for stopping by!
I'm Christine!
I'm a portrait photographer based in Melbourne, Australia.
These are the stories and images of some of the teens I've photographed around the world. Sprinkled in here is also my work as a missional photographic storyteller which focuses on the work of organisations on a mission to do good and bring good to their local and global communities.
Thanks for being here.
In the western regions of Tokyo, almost an hour’s train ride from the organised chaos of the Shibuya Scramble is the neighbourhood of Higashimurayama. Life moves at a bit slower pace, but it’s still urban enough that the train lines extend this far west. I emerged from the station to meet my hosts, absorbed in […]
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The year was my most eventful and diverse year of shooting teenagers since arriving in Australia in 2019. As we were finally able to travel outside the country, I shot dozens of teens across three continents. Closer to home in Melbourne I had the honour of photographing many talented teens here in Australia. In no […]
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Remember the days of photo albums? One of my favourite photos from my childhood is this one with my sister. Every time we visited our grandmother in San Francisco, we would return to this spot at the top of Lombard Street throughout our childhood. (circa 1989) If you were a child of the 80s like […]
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Many people look at me quizzically when I say that I’m a portrait photographer who specialises in teen portraits. Why not wedding, family, maternity or kids? Well, in short, it’s because there are plenty of photographers that shoot that genre and not enough who exclusively focus on the teen years. For the past 11 years, […]
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“Faith, Family, Fellowship” **An shorter version of this post is featured in Baptist Mission Australia’s online magazine which can be seen here on pages 11-14.** I arrived in Chiang Mai on a hot, humid summer day in August. Muana, an inter-cultural worker based in Northern Thailand, picked me up from the airport in his silver […]
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“Graduating and Growing Up With Diversity” On my recent trip to Thailand I had the opportunity to photograph Zoe, a Class of 2022 high school graduate from the Chiang Mai International School. Her parents are originally from India, but she has spent most of her life living in Thailand. Her experience is best described as […]
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“On Top of the World“ All birthdays are special, but the sixteenth feels particularly different to me. At this age, I feel like the child is definitely gone. The awkward early teen years are passing. The adult version of your child is emerging. Conversations change, they become a little more serious, sometimes a little more […]
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“From Kabul to California” Meet Maryam. She is originally from Afghanistan but now resides in the US. She is inspiring, resilient and extremely hard-working. In August 2021 the Taliban rolled into Kabul to take back control of the country. While the US and other countries withdrew, Maryam and thousands of other high-risk Afghans knew their […]
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“Looking Back. Looking Forward.“ In July, I traded the dreary, wet Melbourne winter for a few weeks in California to visit family and friends. While there, I spent time with several teens and high school graduates. I had the honour of doing some photoshoots in some simple but meaningful places for these teens. We worked […]
