The underlying affinity between artist and model is one of the fundamental constructs informing our reading of fashion photography and its wider diaspora of sensibilities and genres. Technical or conceptual nous are simply not enough on their own. Rather, it is the unspoken, the intuitive and the collaborative dynamic between photographer and subject – the creative bond, however fleeting – that breathes life into the image. Leading Sydney-based photographer Bec Parsons has made an international career off the back of her unique ability to connect.
Photographed in the early Spring of 2012 in New York City, the images that populate her debut book Coney Island not only capture a young Julia Nobis amidst the idiosyncratic surrounds of the beachside Brooklyn neighbourhood from which the book takes its title, but burrow somewhere deeper into model photographer’s mutual disposition and spirit. Among these concise, intimate and playful portraits, images of lush blossoms circulate. The allegory is clear. At this most pivotal moment for Nobis – then on the cusp of international fashion stardom – we don’t simply observe her transition from an aloof distance. Instead, Parsons ensures we wander with her.
96 pages, 19.5 x 26.5 cm, section sewn softcover, Perimeter Editions (Melbourne)