About Us
I know what it is like to try and organise a family portrait session!
A few years ago my mum decided that we should do a big group shot. Mum and Dad, their 3 boys, their wives and children, all in the family home. I was the professional photographer in the family, and so taking the picture was my job. That was the easy part! Getting everyone together at the same time was going to be much harder. At the time, my two brothers were both living overseas, and it eventually took just over 2 years before we could make the picture. But we did it, and Mum was happy! We weren’t to know it at the time, but that was the last time we were all together. Dad died a year later and we are all so pleased that we have that picture. Over the last 33 years that we have been running our studio in Launceston, I have always been very aware that the pictures I am making could become much more than just a record of the day, and I take the trust that our clients place in me very seriously.
Philip Kuruvita
Photographer
Five times Tasmanian Professional Photographer of the Year, a Fellow of both the Australian and New Zealand Institiutes of Professional Photography, Philip is Tasmania’s only Grand Master of Photography and one of just a handful in Australia, and while it is great to win awards and be recognised for the work that you do, for Philip it is still the thrill of capturing a moment in a way that resonates with people that gets him up in the morning.
“When we go on holidays (and I like going on holidays!) I always have a camera, and I am always looking for images. This conflicts with my other passion which is fishing, and often I am not sure whether to grab my fishing rod or my camera. I usually end up with both, weighed down and conflicted, but happy!! ”
Vicki Kuruvita
Designer/Studio Manager
Born in Albury NSW, Vicki moved to Sydney to study and pursue a career as a hospital specialist architect - a career that eventually brought her to Launceston as a site architect on the Launceston General Hospital. We were meant to be in Launceston for 18 months - that was over 29 years ago!!
As studio manager, and designer, Vicki oversees the smooth running of the studio, and looks after all the design work that comes in, from album and book designs to commercial layouts and design panels. Generally it doesn’t take people long to come to the conclusion that Vicki does all the work and that Philip is just the primadonna artist!
Apart from running the studio and keeping Philip under control, Vicki is best friend to Chilli, a staffy/kelpie cross who hangs on her every word and is always available for walks.
Samantha Kuruvita
Photographer/Customer Service
Sam swore black and blue that she would never be a photographer, but somehow she still ended up here.
Samantha graduated from Deakin University in 2012 with a Bachelor of Film and Digital Media with Distinction majoring in film and photography and has worked within the photographic industry for the past 8 years in Victoria. Samantha specialised in printing for some of the countries top photographers, as well as customer service and assisting, all while building her own boutique photography business.
At Kuruvita Photography, Samantha does a bit of everything, from shooting portraits and headshots, customer service, studio management as well as making copious cups of tea.
Samantha is head of “client happiness” and it’s her job to make sure you have a fabulous experience with us.
Our Studio
Many couples say that they could never work together, but Vicki and Philip have been doing it for over 30 years now, since they started their photography studio . Their personalities and talents complement each other perfectly so that everything gets done with great attention to all the little details that matter. Samantha, their daughter is following in her father’s footsteps and has joined the business as a photographer and studio manager to share the workload and ensure the smooth running of this busy photographic studio. Located in West Launceston, our studio is small, but versatile with a comfortable planning/viewing room and studio space with both high and low key lighting set ups and a continuous light area which is ideal for small babies who don’t like the flash of studio lights. We also have our outdoor studio area with large granite boulders and fern trees, which has been custom designed to give us a great space to work in.
