The start of the 2020s didn’t exactly start the way we all hoped. Being in a lockdown for over a year (or, as your disgruntled Melburnian pals will tell you, two years) was pretty awful, to say the least. We first caught up with photographer Andrew Rovenko back in the height of lockdown in 2021, to chat about his pandemic-born photo series Rocketgirl, starring his then-four-year-old daughter Mia.

We recently caught back up with Andrew to chat about everything he’s been up to since then, (including publishing a photo book of Rocketgirl that you can check out this-a-way) and how he feels about the COVID-19 global lockdown now that we don’t have to stay indoors 24/7 anymore. Have a read of our interview with Andrew down below.

Howdy Andrew! What have you been up to since our last chat? When I first spoke to you guys, it was a COVID-19 project that I picked up as a creative because we didn't have a chance to do much outside of taking photos with my daughter. It started as a response to the lockdown, and because my wife has a background in costume design, she made the astronaut costume. I thought that after the lockdown ended people wouldn’t be interested in Rocketgirl anymore, but it started getting picked up by festivals. This little project in Melbourne was being featured in places like New York, Italy, Poland and more. It’s honestly been a bit unbelievable, I’m so humbled that so many people like this personal project I made with my family.

Now that we aren’t under lockdown, do you have different feelings for Rocketgirl? I think the pandemic was the trigger; it made me brainstorm and get creative because we had so much time. It still reminds me of the pandemic, but I also just associate it with spending time outside with my daughter, which is a lot more special. It’s documenting a part of childhood that we all experience, it’s all about going out and seeing the world for the first time. It reminds me of my childhood, and I love that I got to snap that time for my daughter. Rocketgirl is special to me.

How would you describe your pandemic experience? It’s almost like Stockholm syndrome. I guess humans have a protection mechanism in our brains to help cloud bad memories with positive ones, and we don’t remember all the bad stuff. I think without that, we’d be miserable forever. For me, I think about how school was closed and kids didn’t get to live the way past generations got to live. It was such a terrible time in the world. I try and find the silver lining though, and at least I got to create this photo series!

What has been the most fulfilling part of Rocketgirl? That's a great question, I never thought about it. Just being able to create something with my daughter was the best part, especially since I hope that she can one day look at this when she’s older and remember the time we had together. I know that she had to miss out on going to school and seeing friends, but I hope that this also made for a formative childhood experience.

How does your daughter feel about Rocketgirl? She doesn't care as much, which is interesting. I think she just enjoyed going out places in Melbourne and exploring. She likes looking at the pictures, but I don’t think she understands how big this project has become. She loves the book and she loves looking at the images, but again, mostly because she likes talking about what she did when we took those photos. When she goes to the book she'll say, “Oh, I remember when we did this,” and she will remember all of the details. I guess children work in a completely different way than us.

You’ve mentioned before that you never felt like a ‘real’ photographer. Do you feel like one now? That’s the strangest part, I think. I never studied it or took an education course or anything, so there’s a lot of imposter syndrome. It’s a little bit up and down. I feel like I am an accidental photographer or something. I don’t know if it’ll ever go away.

What’s next on the horizon for you? Yeah, that's a great question. Last time I talked to frankie, I had no idea, but now I have some new ideas I’d love to start on. I’d love to write a children’s book about this experience because my daughter taught me so much about herself and being a father during just this time. This project inspired so many new things that I hope will happen.