She was brought up in the UK by her parents Hannah Louise and Dr Millice Culpin.

She and her parents emigrated to Australia around 1891 and her father established a medical practice at Taringa.

It is presumed that she was intrigued by her new husband's darkroom as he developed his own pictures of his stone masonry commissions.

By August 1928 she was a committee member and, building on her knowledge of painting, her impressionistic photograph "Playground of the Shadows" took first place.

The University of Queensland compares her work to painters such as Arthur Streeton, Elioth Grüner and Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot.