Another interview for the books! I spoke to NBA photographer Nat Butler while he was in hotel lockdown at the league’s playoff facility. Nat was generous enough to share some beautiful HD images and had so many good stories. It’s not often you get to have an hour long conversation with a guy who went to Shaq’s college graduation, knows Michael Jordan and has been to Lebron’s house. Nat’s been around so long that he shot the first basketball magazine I ever bought.
Copy and Content: Moon Reuse
I’m currently helping Melbourne based, green product company Moon-Reuse relaunch their website and online branding. This entails constructing the copy on their UK site, from product descriptions to editing all blog posts. I also tinkered endlessly with their Instagram profile bio and took the owner’s photo for their upcoming About Us page. Next up is launching and managing Moon’s LinkedIn page.
Time for some fun: Dennis Rodman's Wrestling career
From reporting on murder trials to selling mosquito repellent, I’ve written copy about almost everything. This time around; I decided to dabble in something humorous. Pieces like this enable me to be as creative as I want, so I had lot fun.
Behold: A dive into Chicago Bulls forward Dennis Rodman’s wrestling career for Homecourt magazine.
“Dennis “The Worm” Rodman. Hair-dye vanguard, party-monster, and U.S diplomat. A true radical. More defence than cybersecurity, more arms than Shiva, Rodman was unrelenting. Rebounding was his lifework. The Worm’s tattooed physique assaulted every pocket of the court. Forever energized, the Bulls forward furiously exercised post-game. Dennis’ double-helix is different. When The Last Dance revisits his WCW appearance, nothing feels impossible. Number 91 is the most vibrant human being named Dennis. Who else skips training for a TV brawl, neck-deep in the run for an NBA championship? Rodman’s side-hustle makes uncanny sense. He already acted, looked and trash-talked like a ringside beefcake. Rodzilla was snatching mics and kicking camera-men before it was part of the gig. It would be stretching the spandex to insinuate his wrestling was masterful; but god it was entertaining.
Writing about Colour Theory and Masters of Tone
I’m quite proud of the writing in this one and it was nice to see my name in print. I used to be a full-time Fairfax journalist, but I haven’t written for any of the Melbourne or Sydney newspapers until now.
I was interested in this subject firstly as a photographer because colour theory is so key to our psychological responses when we view images.
It was also inspiring to interview a master on the subject of colour, who talked with such vivid, descriptive language. Keith Recker (a self-dubbed Chromosapien) experiences tone in such a unique way to the rest of us. As someone with Synesthesia, his senses encounter sound, smell and various visuals when he sees colour.
This article appeared on the cover of Melbourne's The Age and Sydney Morning Herald's Spectrum insert. It'll hopefully be the beginning of my own forays into considering colour a little more closely when it comes to my photography. Excerpt below.
From primordial cave sketch to fashion billboard, every culture is shaped by colour. A toolkit of expression, pigments trigger and convey the senses. As light is projected through our optic nerve, we encounter memory, emotion, even taste.
Colour experts track each generation’s palette. Whether mid-war modesty or ’60s psychedelia, hues reflect history. Every object, fashion trend or Star Wars reboot is tinted by the stories of its time. Tones also predict social values; how we’ll feel and what we’ll value moving forward.
This era is no different. As headlines display nurses in surgical turquoise or the patriotic red of Trump’s tie, colour gurus take note, looking to the future while keeping one eye on the past.
If you’re interested in learning more about Keith he runs Table Magazine and has recently written True Colors: Worlds Masters of Natural Dyes and Pigments.
Banner image photo credit: Joe Coca for Thrums Books
Above Image courtesy of Beyond Blue.
North Face Advertorial
With a 48-hour deadline, I enjoyed furiously writing this advertorial on the history of The North Face and their evolution in popular culture for JD Sports.
I love when people repurpose other cultures as a means of social mobility so this was felt right within my comfort zone. As always, excerpt below.
From cliff-side to street corner, The North Face protects pioneers of any landscape. No longer solely for frigid mountaineers; TNF’s evolution spotlights the ingenuity of inner-city youth. Like Dapper Dan reinventing Polo in his Harlem workshop; North Face's audience has finessed the brand to the cultural cutting-edge.
TNF’s impenetrable feather-filled jacket is their hallmark. Its robust fabric shell emits hardiness and quality, making the puffer surprisingly symbiotic with rappers of the same ilk. Since being donned by MCs in the ‘90s, North Face is undergoing a resurgence thanks to Supreme collabs, Drake co-signs and Grime trailblazers. But how did an outdoor sporting brand begin shielding hikers and hip-hop heads alike?