There’s rich pickings for streetstyle photographers in Melbourne this week. The cream of this blossoming sub-set of fashion photographers are artists and masters of their craft, fascinating to watch as they weave through pre-show crowds or dash full-pelt across forecourts and streets in pursuit of Melbourne’s most fashionably fabulous en-route to Fashion Week’s shows.
Streetstylers have built-in “bankable shot” radars, pingpingpinging for the eye-catchingly odd, the artfully outrageous, the terribly tasteful and – score! – the shockingly, head-turningly, page-one gob-smackingly gorgeous.
Inside, come showtime, models may pound the season’s new crop of sellables down the runway, but outside, fashion’s street style shooters shoot the real-real reality: what the punters and poseurs actually bought and how they wore it.
Voxfrockers Alice Edgeley , Tilly Parsons and Theadora Violet tracked a random sample of street style photographers roaming the forecourt before MFW’s Ganbu Marra show. Their brief? “Shoot the shooters shooting; plumb who they are, where they came from, what makes them tick…. ” And they did.
Words: Alice Edgeley Photos: Tilly Parsons Videostills: Theadora Violet
Meet: Liana Hardy
Liana specialises in content creation, events, lifestyle, food, fashion and beauty and has been shooting street style at MFW for 4 years. One of her least favorite aspects of documenting street style is seeing fast fashion dominate the scene. Rather than contributing to the amplification of fleeting micro trends, she aims to counteract that by capturing distinctive, personal styles that reflect true individuality.
Liana also likes to interview her subjects and has created a youtube channel where she gets the downlow on what her subjects are wearing and why. She stands out from the other photographers who usually wear all black or variations on utilitarian basics. And, not content to simply document fashion, Liana likes to buck trends by making her own outfits from scratch. On the first evening of MFW we found her wearing a brightly coloured Peter Pan collared outfit. You can find her documenting, not only street style but also her DIY fashion projects on Instagram.
Meet Ashraf (Raf) Mohd
When we meet on this balmy evening, Raf is wearing wrap-around sunglasses (the traditional black uniform of the jobbing photographer) and a big friendly smile. Raf is a freelance photographer who has been shooting MFW for 7 or 8 years and also works at Melbourne Fashion Festival and Australian fashion week in Sydney. You can see from Raf’s photos that he has an eye for composition but it’s not technicalities that really drive him, he’s on the lookout for unique style, interesting fashion, anything different.
Asked how he helps people relax in front of the lens he answers; “I like them to pose, because they feel comfortable in their pose. If something needs correcting, it’s just fine tuning. If I do a new pose or a strange pose that they are not comfortable with, it shows in their eyes. I prefer them to be comfortable.”
Meet Ellena Paskervicis
Ellena is an accomplished photographer who specialises in commercial video and fashion campaigns. When we met, she was working as official photographer/videographer for Midas, a sponsor of this year’s MFW. This is her second year; they brought her back because they loved her work. We spotted Ellena directing fashionistas to stand on platforms, move around, catch the light, walk this way, that way. She was lunging to get the shots. There’s no doubt her subjects had dressed for this privilege and were happy to work it for as long as it took for Ellena to get what she wanted.
Ellena says she appreciates variety in her street style subjects and works until the light and composition is just right. “Face the light and capture the ‘in-between’ moments,”’ is her advice.
Meet Anna Nguyen
Anna Nguyen is a banker by day and, for the past four or five years, a photographer by night. She shoots fashion, runways, portraits and corporate headshots. She is new to shooting street style; a trip to Paris for PFW earlier this year treally did it for her. She loves fashion, she says; every bit of it, especially street style. “Everybody has a unique style about them; I shoot everybody. I try to bring out the vibe in them, to get them to pose.”
When asked how she helped people to feel comfortable; “Laugh,” she says, “And tell them they are beautiful!” She’s a warm personality so you can see how that works for her. Anna says photography is stress relief for her and that translates; her subjects look like they are having the time of their lives.
Meet Patrick Marion
“Creating beautiful images is my passion,” says Patrick. “I specialise in Personal Branding Photography to help people bring their brand to life (so) these photos tell the story of who you are and what you do….” Patrick recently went to Paris fashion week where he caught the bug for street style photography. After Australian fashion week and India fashion week it became a semi-business hobby he publishes on instagram.
Patrick is first to admit he’s not a “fashion type” but he loves to look at great fashion. He picks people to photograph, he says, that look a little bit different, “good fun” and prefers a candid shot.
Meet the VoxFrockers
Alice Edgeley (Emerging fashion journalist)
Alice is a legendary fashion and costumes designer with 30 years experience now branching into new projects including this foray into journalism with the Voxfrock Rookie Crew. Alice cut her teeth in the studio of revolutionary British designer Christopher Kane. Since 2010, her eponymous label has been sought out by some of fashion’s most fabulous characters from London to New York, Paris to Melbourne, including DJs, performance artists, drag queens, flamboyant musicians and pop stars. Edgeley’s work across film, theatre and fashion is thoroughly grounded in the deep historical research she brings, not only to her designs, but to her astute analysis of contemporary clothing codes and trends.
Tilly Parsons (Rookie Crew mentor/photographer)
Tilly is a sought after professional who works at the intersection of art andcommercial photography, blending rare talent and creativity with exceptional technical skills. She is particularly passionate about contributing to narratives of compassion and inclusivity.
Theadora Violet (Emerging fashion photographer)
Theadora is a science graduate and studied film animation and photography at Deakin University. She is also a seasoned traveller, equally passionate about photography, fashion and far-off destinations. Theadora’s fashion photography is nuanced, narrative-driven and tends to the reportage.
