Pedestrian Fashion

Look what we have here, my dear kittens. I finally snagged a copy of Facehunter (2010), Yvan Rodic's compilation of street-style photos from his sensational blog Facehunter. This follows the release of The Sartorialist's book, which I'm lucky to have as well, courtesy of Miss Lyka Bergen (happy birthday, dahling).

(Oh, remember my encounter with Yvan Rodic last year when he visited BKK?)

I've always been fascinated with street-style photography (a collection of links is found on this blog's sidebar). More than documenting the style of people from all over the world, street-style photography is also modern portraiture. The photos often express the mood and show the character of the person in front of the camera.

source: Facehunter

I look at these photos as an amalgamation of various elements the photographer captures at a given moment. Say how the subjects gaze into the lens, or how they often twist their ankle out of self-consciousness, which I always find endearingly awkward, or how they glow as light touches their faces.

There's of course their interaction with their surroundings, say in the middle of a pedestrian crossing in Manhattan, or in front of a graffiti-filled wall in London, or outside the fashion shows in Paris.

source: The Sartorialist

Now there's definitely the fashion part of it (hence, street-style). As the photographer filters through a crowd, say in a busy party, he uses an editing eye to spot that person. As such, the photos are ultimately reflections of the photographer's sense of style.

For instance, Facehunter is into the whimsy of young, irreverent urbanites. He puts the limelight on quirky fashion, at sometimes over the top or a mish-mash of contrasting garments and accessories. While The Sartorialist has an eye for classic, ageless style. He is captivated by crisp tailoring, perfect proportions, and subdued fashion. Meanwhile, Jak and Jil zooms his lens on the details such as killer heels and studded belts or bags.

source: Jak and Jil

Thanks to these bloggers, people all over the world are constantly fed with these truly inspiring images. Street-style bloggers (and fashion bloggers in general) even have become prominent fixtures in the front-rows of major fashion shows during the past two or three seasons.

This is a clear testament of the strong power street-style bloggers are wielding, at least for the moment. I suppose book deals like The Sartorialist and Facehunter are the crowning glory to the success of these street-style bloggers.

[Just a side note, Garance Dore, Tommy Ton of Jack and Jil, Yvan Rodic, and the Philippines' own Bryanboy (among a few other fashion bloggers) are in this month's American Vogue.]