Known for her imaginative and dreamlike imagery, Emma describes photography as a form of alchemy: “you are taking from reality, distorting it with technique and imagination to then create a new story of what is or was.” An Australian-born photographer and director, based between New York and London, Summerton studied Fine Art at the National Art School in Darlinghurst, Sydney, majoring in Photography and Printmaking, where her early self-portraits began.

After seven years assisting a fashion photographer, she moved to London in 1998 and quickly found her voice through Polaroid self-portraits. These images drew the attention of Dazed & Confused, Self Service and i-D, leading to a longstanding collaboration with Edward Enninful, her “Fashion Fairy Godmother.” Together they produced stories for Italian Vogue and W Magazine, culminating in her first Italian Vogue story in 2007 - “a wonderful and meaningful moment” she recalls.

Since then, Emma has shot over 50 Vogue covers, exhibited internationally, and in 2019 presented her Polaroid self-portraits as large format prints. Her 2023 show 14 Spells (to save your life) once again explored the self-portrait, merging photography and painting. In 2022 she became only the fifth woman in history to photograph the Pirelli Calendar.