Eight years ago, Annette and Jeff Dutton hopped on a four-day cruise out of Brisbane for a friend’s birthday and stopped in at Airlie Beach. They never really left. Today, Whitsunday Art Images turns Annette’s photography of the Whitsundays into everything from gallery-quality prints to pocket-sized souvenirs, sold straight from their stall at the Cruise Ship Markets.

Annette had already spent 20 years behind the camera — including a photography diploma in Malaysia and her own glamour and family portrait studio back in Australia — when that first cruise stop sparked something. After a few more visits to see friends who’d since moved up, the decision was made one evening on a balcony, glass of wine in hand, when Jeff simply asked, “Why don’t we just move here?” They sold up in Brisbane, bought an apartment right on the water, and Annette found herself inspired to shoot every single day.

What started as a plan to sell landscape prints quickly grew. Annette and Jeff realised visitors wanted beautiful keepsakes they could actually fit in a suitcase, so they threw themselves into learning sublimation and DTF printing — hand-crafting Annette’s photographs onto keyrings, magnets, coasters, bookmarks and stubby coolers, the vast majority printed right here in Airlie Beach. Every image carries its own story, whether it was captured hanging out of a helicopter over the Great Barrier Reef, cruising to Whitehaven Beach, or simply taken from their own verandah. Nearly four years into life as stallholders, the Duttons say the best part has been the people — the fellow stallholders who feel like family, and the travellers from all over the world who stop by for a chat.