Photographer Phoebe Powell lives with her partner and dog, George, on Melbourne’s greenbelt, a strip of land that stretches from Preston to the northern part of the city and runs along Darebin creek. Phoebe’s work tackles everything from documenting the lives of healthcare workers during the Covid-19 pandemic to celebrating the joy of food to tender-hearted portraits of people from all walks of life (including regularly shooting for frankie).
“If I’m in the studio I’m making something out of nothing so it’s impossible not to use my imagination,” explains Phoebe. “When I’m shooting on location, it’s more about how I see the world and capture it: details I’ve noticed that others haven’t, or an untold story to share.”
 
Her home, a 1950s brick building with a gable rooftop, also has a story to tell. It was one of 600 houses built to house Olympic athletes for the 1956 Summer Olympics. “We've got the original sash windows, which open from the bottom and the top. The house is like a really beautiful lightbox,” says Phoebe. One quirky aspect of the house is the plasterboard made of horsehair.
“I poured a lot of my time over lockdown into landscaping the front and backyard,” says Phoebe. “My front yard is my food forest, with almond and fruit trees, and my heaving veggie boxes. And the back is a bit of a seed bomb where we went with anything that's colourful that caught our eye or smelt really good.” Phoebe sees her garden as a meditative space. “I can spend entire days planting, pruning and gathering produce. I think when life feels a little out of control, being in the garden is my way of regaining a bit of control over the little microcosm I’ve created.”
As for inside the house, Phoebe relies on plenty of plants to bring a “glimmer of nature” indoors. “We’ve also filled our house with second-hand furniture,” says Phoebe. “My favourite are the lockers we found that were being thrown out by a university after they gutted old buildings. The locker is now our linen closet. We cleaned them up, painted them a nice eucalyptus colour, and left stickers on the inside to leave a bit of history.”
 
“We like second-hand furniture because so much of it ends up in landfills when things go out of fashion,” says Phoebe. She prefers vintage pieces for being more long-lasting. “If it needs a repair, we always like modifying it to suit our space. Something that’s already lived in has a more welcoming feeling,” says Phoebe.
Another feature of the house Phoebe loves? The luxury of having a deep bathtub. “I’ll often have a bath and a glass of red wine. Scent and sound can be super grounding, so having a long soak in the bath with a really fragrant body wash after a busy day of directing and shooting is really calming.” At the moment she’s using Natural State’s vanilla, coconut and lime one as her body wash.
For Phoebe, making conscious choices like doing a ‘garden tour’ every morning and afternoon with a cup of coffee and George by her side; working in a nearby studio alongside a group of jewelers, ceramicists, shoemakers, musicians, artists, dancers, and costume makers; and spending time on hobbies like skateboarding, surfing, bushwalking, and rock climbing have helped Phoebe build new routines and communities.
 
This year, Phoebe’s been focusing on spending time doing things she genuinely wants to spend time on, rather than things she feels she has to do. “For me, slowing down has been a natural thing to do as it's come from a place of burnout. Realising that I've said yes to too many things. And I'm not doing the best I can at all of the things,” Phoebe explains.
Her advice for others trying to figure out the balance? “Try to be really decisive in what you dedicate your time to. Make sure you’re right with yourself before you commit to things. Not having a 9-to-5 means you can keep going. But figuring out how to work sustainably for yourself is really important.”
 
This lovely interview and home tour was brought to you in partnership with Natural State, a sustainable home fragrance range and personal care range available exclusively at Woolworths. Take a peek at Natural State’s full range of plant-based, cruelty-free and vegan products.