MY brain is always buzzing and the only time I stop is when I’m cooking or taking photos,” food lover and photographer, Sabine Bannard revealed.
Originally from Germany, Sabine’s life has been filled with music, food and photography, often combining all three.
Upon leaving school she had little idea of what she wanted to do. Her father worked in the wine industry and as a child she spent many hours in restaurants and hotels with him.
This led her to working in catering in fine dining and doing an apprenticeship in the hotel industry and later working with her father in the wine business.
However, it was through her love of music and discovery of techno music that she found her groove and her career took off.
“I spent all my money on records and was the first there to pick up the new releases,” Sabine said.
“My first loan was for a record player, and I taught myself how to mix. Eventually I got a gig somewhere.”
She applied to be a presenter on Viva TV, Germany’s equivalent of MTV.
“My motivation was not to be in front of the camera, but to talk music 24/7,” she explained.
Sabine became the presenter of a hit show called Housefrau at a time when the dance scene was exploding.
“I had three agents, in Switzerland and Germany and was travelling every week djing,” she said.
On a trip to Australia for Housefrau in 1996, she met her husband, Martin.
“He said he thought I was cute, but wondered if I talked too much,” she laughed.
“I’d just broken up with someone and thought I didn’t want anyone with long hair and no one under 30, but there was Martin, long hair and two years younger than me, but I just knew.
“We’d talk every third day on the phone, which cost a fortune, and the connection was so bad. I’d send faxes and make scrap books.
“He came to Germany and stayed. A year after we met the town hall gave us a date to get married, in September 1987.”
The couple had a son William, now 24 and Lulu, now 22 and decided Germany was not the place they wanted to raise their new family, so with the young children in tow, Sabine made the big move to Australia, landing in Logan.
“We wanted to go to Melbourne because we were both working in media,” she explained.
“I didn’t want to have too much Australia in one go,” Sabine said, thinking Melbourne would be a bit cosmopolitan.
However, after visiting and experiencing the bad weather, they decided it wasn’t where they wanted to be and moved in with Martin’s mum in Logan.
“Coming to Australia was probably the hardest thing I’ve ever done. You start as a blank. I was stranded in Logan Village without a driver’s license. I was used to walking everywhere,” Sabine recalled.
Two years later they bought a house on Tamborine Mountain, but Sabine still had no idea what she wanted to do.
Recalling her love of food, she started an Instagram account, now under @sabinebannard, taking photos with her iPhone.
“I then bought my first camera. I held this dslr in my hand and it felt so right. It was a bit like the feeling of djing; a cool way of losing yourself completely,” she shared.
“I always loved stories about people and what they do and why they do it, so I started a series on insta called Meet the Locals, documenting people on the mountain and the Gold Coast.
Five years ago, Sabine returned to shooting film.
“Something icked me about the digital photos. There was something so nostalgic, poetic about film photography. The kids gifted me a point and shoot for my 50th birthday and I was pretty much hooked again,” she said.
“My favourite camera is Leica, a German brand. My first one was from the 1950s which I got right before COVID hit. It was more profound holding that camera than the first time I got a dslr.
“It’s not as user friendly so you really have to slow down.
Now Sabine has at least eight cameras.
“My different cameras all tell different stories,” she said.
“I’m trying to bring order in the chaos around me. You can see lines in the photos, which is sub-conscious.”
Now working at Main St Providore, where her pictures adorn the walls, she is again combining her passions for food and photography.
Living on the mountain amongst nature she said is a gift that she never takes for granted.
“I love the green here; you can feel like you can breathe. I don’t miss living in Germany and a city,” Sabine said.
She is also looking forward to featuring locals in her new work which will be on Substack called The Concept of Home, returning to her time spent with her father and interviewing people about what they call home and sharing a recipe that represents home.
