sydney- beyond the opera house and harbour bridge.

over new years, while Michael was in Japan, i went to Sydney. rather than only doing the touristy sites (e.g. the Habour Bridge) i travelled out to the suburbs. i met some wonderful people in Newtown and went to some amazing vintage stores. definitely a highlight of my trip!

for those from Melbourne, 'King St' in Newtown was similar to 'Brunswick St' in Fitzroy.

if you're ever in Sydney and want a good shop check it out.

i took my photos on 35mm film because i was worried that my SLR wouldn't be secure enough in our accommodation. but also because i love using film! it's so genuine and no one can ask you to edit out their wrinkles, or lazy eyes. you also get such a surprise when it gets developed.

B.

down 'High St' we came across a great little oppie- St Vinnies. What pleasantly surprised me was that all the volunteers were in their 20's and sporting their own unique styles. This girl was one of them and i just had to take her photo in the store. i think it's great getting younger volunteers as it starts to diminish the idea that oppies are only 'old people' stores. when actually more and more young people flock there everyday.

B.

this guy caught our eyes immediately. not only because he had his own distinct punk style but because he was carrying his pet snake. after introducing ourselves we discovered it was Adam and his snake Anton.

it was a photo that was just begging to be taken!

B.

just left of the Newtown train station and about a 5 minute walk was the local red cross oppie. except it wasn't a normal one, it looked like a proper vintage store. i just loved how they'd rejuvenated the place and i ended up finding floral, high waisted, 'boomer' shorts. i also met this girl in there who was wearing the cutest outfit. her shorts are from a shop called 'Cream'. if you're ever in Surry Hills or Newtown check it out, it's simply AMAZING. remade vintage items for reasonable prices. i bought vintage shirts for $32 each and my bf bought leather shoes for $50. bargain!

B.

i also travelled to 'Paddington' for the markets and the well known 'Oxford St'.
again for Melbournians this street is similar to 'Chapel St'.
there were great vintage finds at the market (such as the vintage plastic watches above and old school sunnies below) and high end fashion down the street.
well worth the visit.
B.

we also came across a little side street just off Oxford St: 'William St'.
If you can imagine...50 terrace houses lining the road and each one being a boutique shop. It was a unique sight and we just had to check it out. Many of the houses were top brands, like 'Nudie Jeans Co.' and others were little vintage stores.

it just goes to show, Sydney's more than just high rise buildings and tourist attractions!
B.

Japan. The land of the rising sun.

Apologies on the complete lack of new posts this year! Life has been quite hectic while getting organised for the year ahead. However I have settled into a new home much closer to the creativity life has to offer. Which means we hope our second year of blogging will be even more fascinating, exiting and inspiring than our first. 

Over New Years I did however make it to Japan, which was truly a wonderful experience. I have never in my life come across a race of people who dress so well and let their outfit become the true definition of who they are. People love to play with fashion in Japan, from outlandish colours to extremely fine detail. Men love to show their feminine side while women show strength and power.

My photos aren't a great example of this as my blogging time was very limited due to a rather short but intense trip. However I do hope they inspire you to sometime visit and be influenced by such a culture rich society.

M 

Yes I got extremely lucky and saw a real Geisha. I was very surprized as I was told that their are only now five hundred left in all of Japan. They say a picture tells a thousands words, well you have to take my word for it that she was simply beautiful and had a certain exticate and elegance that not even a picture could capure. It's very interesting that now in Kyoto a lot of young people are going back to wearing traditional clothing. However the hair styles and accessories they have make you feel like your taking a stroll around Disneyland.

M.

I had a good chat to this lady and she said she doesn't normally dress like this. But during traditional company meetings and events you must wear the traditional attire. Found this very interesting.

M.

We had the pleasure of skiing in Hakuba for our last week of the trip, the home of the 1998 winter Olympics. Believe me their's no such thing as a conservative skiing outfit here. You won't see any black and blues, but some of the most outrageous skiing outfits I have even seen. Skiings always seemed a pretty straight up sport to me. Where you work hard and go for the adrenaline which is the by product. Here people seemed to go to show off their style amongst the powder. Sadly I didn't capture any of this as carrying my camera while tree skiing is simply beyond my capabilities. 

M. 

Japan taught me a valuable lesson about people and their relation to photographs. People look at a photo of themselves and get a sense of self definition. People look at a photo of themselves and ask themselves how they can be better, how they can express themselves more through their fashion.
Japan may be the land of the rising sun, but the lights will never go out on self expression.
M.

merry christmas and all the best for 2012!

Merry Christmas to all!

It's a very busy and sometimes very stressful time of the year, however there's also plenty of time for fun and games. Apart from the occasional hectic thunder storm the weather has been pretty good. Meaning for a lot of people minimal little light clothes and plenty of eye candy for the style hungry. We shot this post on Friday, it was a beautiful day. However due to christmas shopping it was so busy in the city, making it much more difficult to find the select identities we search for.

I'm flying to Tokyo on wednesday so I will bring you some photos of some very inspiration individuals.

See you in Tokyo and have a happy new year!

M.

Happy Birthday Jesus/Merry Christmas!
What a year we've had! Starting the blog has been a great experience and we've been so lucky to meet so many lovely people on the streets. Even though we were nervous starting out, we've persisted and created what we set out to.
Thankyou for all your comments, follows and support, it's much appreciated!
As Michael flies out to Japan, I head to Sydney. It's great how the summer holidays encourage many of us to travel and get away.
I wish you all a safe and relaxing few weeks, see you in the New Year.
B.

This was our first ever interaction with a flash mob. We had only ever heard of them on youtube. Although this one was pretty small it was still really impressive. They had a good sing and dance and then faded back into the crowd. Good on them!

M.

How good are beards at the moment. Every man and his dog seems to be working a large beard these days, and I have to say I love it. This guys entire look worked well for me, he had a bit of Bon Iver about him and maybe a little Nick Cave, and even perhaps a little I don't know who I am. But fuck it, I like those contradictions. 

M.

I think our new favorite place to shoot is Flinders Lane. It has really nice light and a really cultured feel about it. I saw this guy jump out of a nice car and asked if I could take his photo. He said yes pretty quickly before his agent ran up to find out what was going on. He was at ease when I assured him I was absolutely nobody! 

Nice shirt, well fitted and nice hair.

M.

As on every nice day out shooting we constantly fight the urge to start drinking beers out in the sun. However I always feel guilty if I have not taken enough photos and we go for a drink. We were having a tough time on Friday though when my friend Bertie wanted an early afternoon drink the temptation was simply to much to resist. I took these photos of her outside the Carlton Club, I like them. they're very comfortable and summery.

M.

We were just about to call it a day and go home when we decided to blog for a bit longer and enjoy the evening sun. I noticed this very striking girl around the city during the day collecting money for charity. Right before going home I saw her again and thought she was worth a snap. She turned out to be a German backpacker and had a nice smile. I wanted to take her photo away from the crowds and in the shade, so she made me carry her bag for her which I thought was very cute. Good luck in Australia!

M. 

While sitting at the GPO building we saw these guys walking by. They were asking fo gold coing donations for their cause. It was a great idea to dress in this way because it drew everyone's attention towards them. I overheard them saying it was to represent the black and white population.

B.

I found this lane way off Flinders Lane the other week and knew it was the perfect spot for a photo. When this guy walked past I just knew i had to stop him. He was modest and said 'i'm only in my work uniform' but it wasn't only his clothes rather that, his hair, and attitude that really stood out. I wish I could look as individual as this at my work!

B.

We'd spied this guy earlier in the day on the streets and finally decided to stop him in Flinders Lane. So glad we did because he was so lovely and understanding about what we do. He actually has thought about starting a blog like ours, FaceHunter's and The Satorialist's. Do it was all I could say. Not only has this blog provided me with much enjoyment, i've learnt so much about my camera and approaching others. Looking forward to seeing what this guy creates in the future!

B.

For me this is a great summer look. High waisted pants, a chiffon top and lovely sandals not only look good but are comfy too. For this reason there were no questions about photographing this girl, it had to be done!

B.

When I saw this girl what first struck me was her hat. All up it was such a classic look that we don't see that often. It immediately makes me think of a summer's day in the garden or a high tea at the Windsor!

B.

striking the heart of summer! 6/12.

Well well well, summer has officially started and Meredith Music Festival is this weekend. So I guess 

i've been dreaming of drinking cold beers in the nice warm sun, but no, of course it's now predicted to piss rain the whole weekend. So the only thing i'll be drinking is mud and rain water as my tent floods. Anyway life goes on. 

The photos in this post were taken on the same day as the previous post. However as we also attended the event we had too much material so we decided to split it into two posts. And as you are about to see it was a truly wonderful sunny SPRING day!

We had a bit of it all really, first we struck the nurses rally, which I might add we fully support. However it did hinder a shoot for a while as there were far to many people around to operate. 

Anyway we did indeed find some very special people with very contrasting looks and a variety of expression. As always each of the following people inspired in me their own way.
M.

I saw the guy below at the library and his T-shirt was just a "Good Photo".

M.

This guy was the last person I shot for the day while I was waiting for Bea. Before wrapping things up and getting some beers he wondered down the lane. It had been a long day and I couldn't really be bothered getting another shot, however this guy looked pretty friendly and I liked his look. As always I generally envy a look I can't pull off myself!

M.

After leaving the rally we thought we'd try and get away from the crowds and head to the library for some peace and quiet. We were wrong. Jet Star had a promo to China running and to celebrate had Chinese drummers and dancers. These guys were running around stealing peoples bags and so on. It was funny for a while and then it started to wear a little thin so we took off.

M.

This guy had something very british summer rockstar about him, he was dressed in thin light items perfect for the warm day. He was also just going to enrol at RMIT which I had to do today as well.

M.

This guy was looked very interesting and the mystirious chair made him even cooler. I'm not saying that this guy doesn't know who he is, but i've started to notice that sometimes people struggling to find who they are, produce the most wonderful contradictions within an individuals personal look. I had a chat to this guy and the chair is a piece of art he had created. He and his friends were carrying it around to gain feedback from the general public all the time.

M.

It was the start of the day when I caught the eye of someone i'd shot a few months ago. Meet Jeremy. We always see people who we've previously photographed but none of them ever stop for a second chat. It was great to catch up with Jeremy and take another photo. His distinct style was still as sharp as it was when we first met. On the left is the photo we first took and below is the more recent one.

B.

This guy was literally off in his own world when we stopped him for a photo. He was happy to sit down and play me some guitar while we took a few shots.

B.

I actually took this photo a few weeks ago and have been waiting to put it in a post. I was just walking by Flinders Street when I spotted him and thought he had the best summer outfit i'd seen. The necklaces, hat and glasses just topped the whole look off. It's great to find such individualistic people on the street and to see that they're completely confident with their look

B.

When I saw this girl at the tram stop it was one of those occasions where the accessory drew my eye. In this case it was the bag, it was just perfect and intrigued me to look at the outfit as a whole. Not only was the bag striking so were the socks, heels and red top. This girl had just been at a gig for the 'Melbourne Festival' and was happy to have a brief chat before catching her tram.

B.

Sometimes Michael and I feel a tad creepy when we chase people down the street and ask for their photo. This was the case when I spotted this girl. Firstly I chased her down the street, and second I asked her down a creepy lane. I don't know if i'd be that trusting but she was and I was lucky enough to get a cool shot. My favourite part of her outfit is her top and she actually added those sleeves herself! What a great project to do, so colourful and crafty.

B.