About

Hello! It's KATE MCAULEY here — an Australian-born, New York–based writer, photographer, and visual artist.

At heart, I’m a storyteller. For more than two decades, I’ve travelled, lived, and worked across ten countries and visited more than a hundred others, documenting people, places, and cultures through the lenses of art, travel, food, fashion, and whatever unexpected situation I found myself in. 

My work has appeared in a wide range of international publications, including Bon Appétit, The Australian, Art Almanac, Elle, Esquire, Time Out, Harper’s Bazaar, The Big Issue, Lodestars Anthology, Jamie Magazine, Huffington Post, Grazia, and Square Meal. On the corporate side, I've created content and campaigns for, among others, YouTube, Google, the Moroccan Tourist Board, Jamie Oliver, Match.com, Stylist, Control Risks, St James Trust, Flinders Lane Gallery, and the Sydney Opera House. I've also worked as a ghostwriter, penning several celebrity memoirs too. 

Alongside the glossy bylines and passport stamps, however, is a life that’s been anything but straightforward. I’m currently writing Hostile Environments: A Love Story, my memoir about the dangerous places I’ve been and the extreme (and often absurd) situations I’ve survived - from being questioned by Cameroonian police under suspicion of espionage and caught in the crossfire of rioting raskols in Papua New Guinea, to surviving trauma, loss, and a life threatening illness. As a companion to the book, I also publish The Hostile Environments Project on Substack - an ongoing collection of essays, reflections, and behind-the-scenes notes on process that expand on the themes of my memoir. 

These days, I split my time between writing and photography while building a visual art practice that's aligned with where I’ve landed - stubbornly curious, endlessly inspired, and fully committed to telling honest stories, both mine and others, that reflect the beautiful, the challenging, and everything in between. 

I am open to commissions of all types. You can also support me as I write Hostile Environments by purchasing an original artwork, print or product currently have available on this website.