a creative pairing

can you tell us about how you first got interested in photography and the creative industry in general?

Bart: I started taking photographs of graffiti on trains in the late 80s, that lead to me publishing the seminal graffiti magazine “Damage”.

I actually wanted to be a war photographer like Don McCullin, I’d seen conflict pictures in the papers, and I had friends that went and fought in the Yugoslav wars. I had this romantic notion of being a photojournalist. But my battles were with other writers, hanging out of moving trains, cutting my way into train yards and ultimately being chased out of the subway, and being put before the courts. I’d never really worked within the 'creative community', I was always on the perimeter back then.

My first paid job was working for Conde Nast though, shooting social pictures for Vogue in the 90s alongside Australian legends like Rennie Ellis.

There’s been a lot of water under the bridge since then, I lived for a time in New York City and Germany when Berlin was a place no one wanted to visit, and your accent was your passport. This was when you had to phone phreak to call home international.

I’ve always had a very D.I.Y approach to being creative though. Ultimately these are my observations of my surroundings and I’ve always been investigating the photographic mediums foundations.

 

Love Want is one of our favourite publications. How and why did it first come to life?

Bec: Thank you, bassike is also one of our favourite brands, there are a lot of similarities between us actually. We both have a strong graphic identity and Jonathan Zawada actually designed our first logo too.

Imogene Barron founded the title with us, she has a special eye for casting talent, and it was the early shoots with then unknowns like Julia Nobis, that really set the future direction for the title. We found all the great Australian girls first. A lot of titles were and still are reactionary rather than trendsetters, that are dominated but recycled ideas and covers.

I personally was frustrated by the lack of diversity, authenticity and creativity from these titles, and we all founded the zine with the idea of creating something beautiful, simplified and uncomplicated. It was more a diary for us, a record for friends, of friends.

 

How has the magazine evolved since its inception?

Bec: It was a zine to begin with, we literally threw it together and have had a great time doing it, because there has always been a sense of community around it. Over the years we’ve worked with a lot of amazing talent from the models to the truly inspiring creatives like Richard Bush and Sarah Richardson. It’s evolved into a small family of like minded individuals.

 

You’ve just released issue number 12, can you tell us about some of the highlights from creating it?

Bart: LW is an international title. As such our fashion editors are our inspiration, it’s people like Jessica Dos Remedios, Catherine Newell Hanson and Alex Robertson Dunlop who make it happen. For this issue, Bec got a phone call from Heathermary Jackson, the former fashion director of 'The Face', and they started talking about this and that. They definitely share a similar visual aesthetic and sentiments about photography in general. From there things just naturally start to fall into place. We work with incredible talent, people like Mark Vassallo who is an absolute legend in terms of what he has done for the industry, always inspired and always supportive. He’s a visionary. Meg Gray, is another original, who without her amazing input we couldn’t have created the dreamy sequences we shot. Then we have people like Stevie Dance who shot what is perhaps the quintessential LW story, where the clothing is really secondary and the narrative and personal nature of the imagery is the driving force.

 

Are there any other photographers or creatives who have been particularly influential in either of your creative practices?

Bart: I’m influenced by people like Joel Sternfeld, who is a fine-art color photographer noted for his large-format documentary work. Then there are the Australian colour field painters, like Sydney Ball who have heavily influenced my abstract work. For Bec it’s the opposite, I’d say it is yoga and meditation.

 

How long have you guys been working together on creative projects?

Since we first met about 11 years ago.

 

Do you remember the first thing you worked on together?

There were endless Nylon, Oyster and SummerWinter editorials back then.

Can you tell us about how you first got interested in photography and the creative industry in general?

Bart: I started taking photographs of graffiti on trains in the late 80s, that lead to me publishing the seminal graffiti magazine “Damage”.

I actually wanted to be a war photographer like Don McCullin, I’d seen conflict pictures in the papers, and I had friends that went and fought in the Yugoslav wars. I had this romantic notion of being a photojournalist. But my battles were with other writers, hanging out of moving trains, cutting my way into train yards and ultimately being chased out of the subway, and being put before the courts. I’d never really worked within the 'creative community', I was always on the perimeter back then.

My first paid job was working for Conde Nast though, shooting social pictures for Vogue in the 90s alongside Australian legends like Rennie Ellis.

There’s been a lot of water under the bridge since then, I lived for a time in New York City and Germany when Berlin was a place no one wanted to visit, and your accent was your passport. This was when you had to phone phreak to call home international.

I’ve always had a very D.I.Y approach to being creative though. Ultimately these are my observations of my surroundings and I’ve always been investigating the photographic mediums foundations.

What do you look for when casting models for Love Want? Is there a particular look, style or type that you are attracted to?

Bec: Uncomplicated beauty and a sense of self. A quiet confidence and perhaps the anti hero. I’m not interested in a girl who wears heels to my castings. I’m looking for something real that transcends those superficial observations.

 

What do you enjoy doing outside of the studio?

Surfing and gardening, and generally hanging out with our daughter.

 

How would you describe each of your personal styles?  

Bart: I think my work captures the vivid and intimate details of my shifting interests within photography’s classic genres of portrait, landscape, and still life. Bec on the other hand has a very natural and personal approach, she’d rather just hang out with her subject and occasionally make some pictures. She is sharing moments with them, and that’s hard to replicate. There’s no reference she’s working back from, which is what you get with a lot of other people. There’s just her and the conversation that evolves.

 

Any exciting projects coming up you can share with us?

Bart: Bec has her first art book being published by Perimeter Books later in the year, and I have a major exhibition coming later in the year in Canberra and am showing work currently as part of a group show at the Centre of Contemporary Culture in Barcelona, in Spain.

 

Can you tell us about how you first got interested in photography and the creative industry in general?

Bart: I started taking photographs of graffiti on trains in the late 80s, that lead to me publishing the seminal graffiti magazine “Damage”.

I actually wanted to be a war photographer like Don McCullin, I’d seen conflict pictures in the papers, and I had friends that went and fought in the Yugoslav wars. I had this romantic notion of being a photojournalist. But my battles were with other writers, hanging out of moving trains, cutting my way into train yards and ultimately being chased out of the subway, and being put before the courts. I’d never really worked within the 'creative community', I was always on the perimeter back then.

My first paid job was working for Conde Nast though, shooting social pictures for Vogue in the 90s alongside Australian legends like Rennie Ellis.

There’s been a lot of water under the bridge since then, I lived for a time in New York City and Germany when Berlin was a place no one wanted to visit, and your accent was your passport. This was when you had to phone phreak to call home international.

I’ve always had a very D.I.Y approach to being creative though. Ultimately these are my observations of my surroundings and I’ve always been investigating the photographic mediums foundations.