Jess Irwin - Dare2bu

Jessica Irwin is a unique young woman with a different perspective on life to most of us. Born with a high level of cerebral palsy together with an equally high level of self determination and raw talent she has excelled in achieving her goal of becoming a commercially viable photographer, website and graphic designer. In 2003 at the young age of 16 Jessica took the first tentative step into photography and design that opened an electrifying world of discovery. She is often looked upon as a pioneer for people with disabilities to follow and challenge themselves to manufacture a future they dream of. Jessica is an enthusiastic ambassador for the Blair's Wish Foundation, regularly sharing her skills and experiences with parents with young children that have just been diagnosed with cerebral palsy. In hope to brighten the black hole that is looming in front of them and allow them to see a future that they are striving for. Jessica continues to this day to nurture her skills in photography, website and graphic design which sees her as an inspiring talent in this field. Jessica completed her HSC among her fellow able-bodied peers and continued on to study Desktop Publishing and her diploma in Website Development at TAFE in 2006-2012. One of Jessica's strong beliefs is the ability to learn from everyone you meet. Everyone has an unique skill set. Sit down, watch and listen to then and take away something that you might not have gained if you never met. In 2007 Jessica met renowned photographic artist Ken Duncan at a "Prospective in Prints" exhibition. Impressed with the high standard of Jessica's work and commitment to her art, Ken invited Jessica to work at his prestigious "Created for Life" studios on the Central Coast of NSW. Jessica worked at Ken's studios for six years and Jessica counts herself as extremely fortunate to have received tutelage and mentoring from some of the "best in the business" whilst working at the Ken Duncan Created for Life studios.; Ken Duncan himself, Leo Meir, David Oliver, Peter Eastway and Glenn Mckimmin, who are still very supportive today. The time came to move on from Ken Duncan's to challenge Jessica's own photography and design skills. Jessica has embarked on establishing her own business, which she has aptly named DARE2BU. This exciting enterprise specialises in providing landscape photography, portraiture, prepress design, website design and development to the wider community. Jessica is also testing the waters in music band photography and she is extremely lucky to be taken under the wing of Australia's own raw music talent Steve Balbi [Noiseworks, Rose Tattoo, and Black Rainbow] and Jimmy Cupples [The Voice and Searching For The Sun]. Jessica was extraordinary lucky to be asked to photograph on the red carpet for the 2013 Aria Awards! Jessica is hoping to grow this section of her career and spread out to local bands offering them live music band photo shoots and artistic promotional shots while still keeping up with the other sections of her fast growing career. Jessica works on her own business four days a week and recently gained employment as a Graphic Designer at Jeenee Mobile in the big open wide city which she absolutely loves! At Jeenee Mobile she does the graphic design for their promotional flyers and some web development. Jessica's future plans contain launching her first photography coffee table book with Marlena, a journalist also with Cerebral palsy who is going to write the inspirational quotes for the book. So stay tuned...