Glenn Hunt, The Stepdaughter (PEOPLE & PORTRAIT 2025)

This is a portrait of my “step-daughter”—though that label never quite fit for either of us. It took 15 years to get her in front of a camera. I first met her when she was 15. She came by with her mum and took my dogs for a walk. Unfamiliar with the neighbourhood, she got lost almost immediately—but the dogs led her back home, with her in tow. In many ways, she stayed lost a little longer, searching for herself and her place in the world. Eventually, she found her path as a writer—like her mother, but with a distinct voice entirely and uniquely her own. She’s already published two books, both earning high praise and awards. She moved to Melbourne, found her people, loved and lost, and—true to form—still doesn’t have a driver’s licence. Recently, I had a serious health scare—a brush with death during complications from cancer that I am being treated for. Katerina flew up from Melbourne to check in on me, which moved me. I wanted to mark the moment with a portrait—something to honour her, and to show the remarkable woman she has become.

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