C E R E A L In this volume we talk all things photography with Oliver Charles, take a dive into the authentic life of a London commuter and discover that even manmade city wonders can still be just as magical as natural ones. We also take a look at the new early autumn collection by Toast and take a tour around London’s iconic department store ‘Harrods’.
C E R E A L
Editor’s Letter
A
fter trekking around beautiful bali and exploring the reefs of Australasia, being told that my next export would take me no further than my home town of London was disappointing to say the least. I had spent months after all enjoying every aspect the natural world in all its sun kissed and unbelievable glory, but now I was to visit possibly the most manmade place on earth. However, after much reflection I decided there was nothing I could do and that I should make the most out of the opportunity to learn to love England’s capitol all over again. In all its grey glory, London is actually a very culturally rich place to live and I decided to take the opportunity to go into real London tourist mode and really explore the nooks and crannies of the city of London and all it offers. It is customary that whenever we go on a travel export, the Cereal Magazine photographers would have to get up at the crack of dawn to take the best pictures the area had to offer. However, no matter how early they awoke and ventured into the city, Central London was very much awake and the hustle and bustle of the morning after the night before and the early morning commute was something that was unavoidable. London really is the city that never sleeps. So you can imagine their annoyance when they could think of no realistic way to convince me to emerge out of my bed before mid-day as it was safe to say that there would be no day break spectacle for me ‘not to miss’ as their normally is when travelling to the likes of Sydney or Cancun. So there was an upside to staying in London afterall. As much as I said that London was a disappointment, the hospitality of londons top hotels were truly something that cannot be emulated elsewhere as they really could not do enough for me. The blackout blinds and sound proof walls did wonders for me when the 7am commuters came marching by and made me feel as if I could have been in any warm dreamy country I liked.
Overall, by taking a break from luxurious getaways by the sea and 5 star hotels I managed to snap back to reality and really come back to earth with my week long London trip. I really did have to immerse myself into the life of a London commuter as I went to interview prospective features for the next volume of the magazine which meant travelling around the only way a true Londoner would, by taking the dreaded tube. Despite this though, by the end of my short trip to London I really did leave with a new found appreciation for Englands capitol and a lot of respect for those who have to endure the London commuters lifestyle on a day to day basis as it is not something I miss even slightly. Furthermore, it’s safe to say that I cannot wait to slip back into the routine of the juxtaposition of sun kissed beaches and office hours. (626) Amelia Rawlings
Table of Contents I. ART & DESIGN More Than the Medium
A CONVERSATIONWITH LONDON METZ
34
Intentional Sparsenes
44
Organic sculplture
55
VISITING GEORGIAS HOMEAND STUDIO
A PHOTO ESSAY
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA
62
Ocean pools
OUTDOOR SWIMMING CUTURE
Modern tailoring
70
The fifth facade
78
Sunshine
86
Wolgan Valley
90
WITH PATRICK JOHNSON
A MAKING OF A ACHITECTURAL ICON
THE SOUND FLIGHT FACILITIES
A WEEKEND IN THE BLUE MOUNTAINS II. STYLE
Swimwear
98
Technical elegance
108
ACURATED SELECTION
TAILING WITH PIER LUIGI LORO PIANA
I T R AV E L
Toast THE WELSH BRAND THAT RE-ENERGISES TRADITIONAL TEXTILES In this year’s early autumn collection by Toast, you can clearly see a lot of season transition pieces with a selection of heavier fabrics and deeper colour tones to match the welcoming of the new season. Some pieces in particular incorporate a more oversized silhouette by showcasing exaggeratingly large fitting blazers and coats and wide leg trousers are in an abundance. Summer shapes are long gone along with its warmer weather and are swiftly replaced by flattering long lines, more practical for the chillier autumn weather. Their cuts are more precise and suitable for outdoor wearing and wouldn’t look out of place in a country retreat or a city dwelling. One thing to say about Toast as a brand would be that there isn’t a great difference between each section of their season breakdown, for example there is a large percentage of white linen in each collection no matter the climate, and the classic silhouettes do not really change with the seasons either. But this is more down to their chosen look that fits within their brand of more sophisticated and timeless garments. In terms of endorsements, the brand has been seen on many high flying professional women and men such as Emma Watson and models such as Alexa Chung wore their summer collection as part of a feature for refinery29 earlier this year. (242)
II STYLE
F
or the past four years since he was just 18, Oliver Charles has been named one of the most up and coming contemporary photographers of this generation. His potential has been showcased with his abundance of awards and titles within the industry such as becoming top in Flikr’s 20 under 20 award, being chosen to be in Complex Magazines 20 young photographers article and The culture trip names him number 1 in their article on the top 10 contemporary London photographers. His work has also been presented in editorials such as Vogue and Bazaar magazine and has worked for popular names such as British Haute couture house and Ralph & Russo. He has also had the opportunity to create his own photography exhibition on more than one occasion. We sat down in his London apartment to discus with him his achievements, influences and what he sees himself doing in 5 years’ time. CEREAL: you seem to have had a very successful few years with your photography! To what do you think you owe this success? OLIVER CHARLES: Yes I suppose I have! I would probably say that my success has originated from joining flikr at a young age before I refined my chosen art medium and knew what I wanted to do. This enabled me to look at all of the different photographers on there and their individual visions and styles which helped me to refine my style. CEREAL :Would you say that you have always been an artistic person? OC: Yes definitely! I have always been someone who was able to view things in a different and deeper way and from an early age I was always interested in different kinds of art work. But originally painting was more my forte, before I discoved my love for photograpy of course, I still use a lot of paintly styles in my images though which is something that I personally like about my own work.
CEREAL: What would you say to other upcoming photographers regarding tips of the trade? OC: I personally never used tutorials or attended any photography workshops as I think it is important to find your own style instead of emulating others. Id also say that I wouldn’t go into a shoot with too much of a creative plan as to what you want to achieve as some things work better than others and its important to experiment! Play with a lot of different concepts in the beginning, it will help you to figure out the style you want to achieve. But remember to look for inspiration as every good photographer has been influenced by a number of others to begin with. CEREAL: You say to look at others for inspiration, would you say that your work is influenced by other photographers? OC: Absolutely! I love photographers such as Sally Mann and Norman jean Roy and I do think that they not only got me into the business but they have definitely inspired the visuals I create. Photographers don’t just inspire the work I create though, seeing others work also inspires me to get up and get out of a creative rut, ig I ever find myself in one, and really get going on another creative direction. CEREAL: Would you say that your work is inspired by anything other than other artist or photographers? OC: Yes of course! Music is definitely something that inspires my creative process as it enables me to really get deeper into my imagination and focus on the process. I would say that with every collection of photographs there is a cleverly worked out playlist. Film is another thing that I find extremely inspirational in terms of my visuals as I can strip away concepts from storylines and use them to influence my work.
CEREAL: By looking at your work you can actually see a use of narrative and storylines! OC: Yes, whether it be a one that is inspired by a film concept or just my imagination I like to have some kind of direction to my visuals. I like the idea of transporting the viewer for a few moments when they are looking at my work, whether this be in a sad or happy way, as long as its reflective. I like to evoke an emotional response. CEREAL: Speaking of films, you have created a number of shorts yourself, is this something that you would like to do more of in the future? OC: I would never say never, but I feel like you need to invest a lot of blood sweat and tears into the creation of a really good film and I am very easily waylaid by my photography at the minute so I feel like I wouldn’t be able to keep up with the commitment. I do really enjoy the creative process though and I think that it is something I want to divulge into within the next few years, along with perhaps another exhibition if I’m lucky. CEREAL: You have also been involved with fashion editorials such as Bazaar Bride India and Vogue magazine. Is fashion photography another thing that you would like to be more involved in? OC: I do feel as if I am drifting into fashion photography as it is a very rewarding thing to get into. But there isn’t a great deal of creative freedom which with my line of work can be a little frustrating as you have to work along with so many different people who all have different ideas of what they want the finished product to look like. It is something that I do enjoy though so hopefully you’ll see more of me! CEREAL: Speaking of the future, what are your goals for the next 5 years, if you have any? OC: I try not to think in time frames just in case I end up not getting a lot done and end up feeling like I’ve failed, but I suppose it’s only natural to have some goals for achievement. Like I said I would really like to hone my fashion
photography as it is something that I really do enjoy and think that you can be really creative with. Also to finally create a film I am 100 percent happy with would also be something that I would really love to be involved in as it would enable me to have more of an interactive portfolio and could open more doors for me in terms of visual communications as well as visual art. But overall, I think that being able to have another exhibition would be my main goal as it really gave me something to look forward to and to work towards in the months coming up to it. The exhibitions really helped me to pave the way of new opportunities as I managed to get scouted for a number of different interesting shoots such as the Bazaar wedding shoot in India and the work I did for the British Haute couture house. I was also in a very conflicted place at that time mentally so it kind of pushed me to really come out of my comfort zone and break the fragility I was in at the time. CEREAL: The exhibition did prove to be a success, what would you say of the experience? OC: For me it was a very good experience, because as I said it proved to be one that really helped me out of the rut I was in and opened a lot of doors for me professionally. It was still very nerve-wracking though and I think that the experience really could have gone either way when the reviews and feedback came flooding in a few days later. Luckily when the criticism came back there were no negative responses so it really did give me the morale boost I needed to really want to continue my work with the same love I had for it in the beginning. Oliver Charles’ newest photography exhibitions are touring with the flikr 20 for the summer 2018 in and around London. He will also pick up an award for fastest growing following and for his latest work ‘Beasts’ as part of Complex’s Top 10 Contemporary artists article in their photography spin off volume. (1593)
S O U V E N I R
A L L S A I N T S J A C K E T, H A R R O D S , L O N D O N
London’s Harrods department store is one of the most recognised department stores in the world and boasts a large collection of high-end brands, a luxury dining experience and somewhere to bask in the classic wonders of the London lifestyle. Historically, Harrods is something that is befitting to London’s elite culture and is something that is enjoyed by tourists and the royal family alike. The store first opened its doors in the 19th century by tea merchant and owner Henry Harrods. The store is renowned across the world for providing a luxury service for a luxury price and it definitely does not defer from this ideal with a gigantic collection of high-end retail brands and world food stalls which all operate with a price tag befitting to its luxury demeanour. This particular souvenir is a real leather jacket from the London based brand All Saints and originally exclusively sold to Harrods and other high-end stores and collaborating brands. All Saints is another brand that fits within the ideal of the classic smart London businessman or woman as all their garments and accessories are crafted with their brand in mind. (202)