On The Street, Taipei... Karen

I never cared for fashion much, amusing little seams and witty little pleats: it was the girls I liked
- David Bailey

On The Street, Taipei... Pin Zhou

All I need is a camera and I'll make things happen
- Keenen Ivory Wayans


The great thing with doing this (or one of the great things I should say) is that while it's got it's twists and turns and idiosyncrasies that can present a less than obvious challenge, at the core of street style photography is that it requires nothing more than having a camera, going out onto the street and looking for someone who takes your eye, then asking them if they mind you taking their photograph. I think everyone should try it, at least once or twice - it can be challenging but it's a real buzz at the same time.

On The Street, Taipei... Vicky

Music, art, literature, movies, fabric, travelling, fine food, antiques... are not only part of my job, but also my life and most importantly where I get my inspirations from
- Jamei Chen


But then maybe on the whole 'what are you looking for' thing, it's actually a good thing to not be looking for something specifically. Because I suppose what I'm really after is an inspiration for a feeling which could be anything really, and I've just gotten hooked on finding that inspiration and feeling from the way people dress, recording it by way of street style photography.

And it's probably good that I don't really know much about fashion or think about clothes in a "parts of the sum" type way, because if I went out each day saying "I want to take a photo of someone wearing jeans and a light coloured coat and blue/purple scarves and a cool black bag", it'd be all a bit formulaic and predictable; it'd be like ticking off a look on a predetermined list. All I know, then, is that I know it when I see it and that's inspiration enough.

On The Street, Taipei... Chen

Music and silence combine strongly because music is done with silence, and silence is full of music
- Marcel Marceau


I seem to be thinking a lot about this question recently: what do you look for? Because I've never felt like I've been able to answer that exactly. I know that I like lines and shapes and forms, but that still really doesn't say anything. Then sometimes I think I know what I'm not looking for, only to then find that very thing and realise that it works somehow. It's very hard to define, definitively.

In fact, the only way I can describe it is to describe the result - I'm looking for a photograph that makes me feel very silent and still, and solid too. Which is really just saying that I'm looking to take a photograph that makes me feel very complete, like nothing else is required, nothing else needs to be done. It still doesn't answer the question, does it? Maybe it's a question that should never be answered, because the whole point is to keep on looking.

On The Street, Taipei... CatKing

Fashion is a language that creates itself in clothes to interpret reality
- Karl Lagerfeld

On The Street, Tokyo... Yuko X Rachel Wilkinson Illustration

Why, Sir, you find no man, at all intellectual, who is willing to leave London. No, Sir, when a man is tired of London, he is tired of life; for there is in London all that life can afford
- Samuel Johnson


_________________________________
Illustration by Rachel Wilkinson

Rachel, you're a student of the London College of Fashion, is that right?

I graduated from LCF with a BA in Fashion Illustration last summer. Now I work for Illustrated People, a clothing and print company based on Brick Lane.

How have you come to be so involved with illustration - when did it all start?

I'm from a fine art and textiles background. I did my foundation at Chelsea school of art, where my tutor suggested I try fashion Illustration as a mix of the two. That's when I fell in love with illustration.

Looking across your portfolio, it seems your style has a focus on sketched lines and key colours. Is that how you see it or how you want to define it?

I think thats a good representation. I would say my work is very pencil heavy, with a strong focus on detail. I love colour and experimenting with traditional techniques such as etching and letterpress printing.

Are there any illustrators that you identify with in particular? Maybe David Downton or Kenneth Paul Block perhaps?

My favourite is Laura Laine. I love her tone and line and she's unique.

What are some illustrations or projects that you've completed that you're particularly happy with?

My final major project for my degree was challenging but in the end I was happy with the outcome and pleased with the progress I had made from pushing myself, so that is up there.

Finally, is there a quote or saying that really defines who you are or what you do?

When a man is tired of London, he is tired of life.

by Rachel Wilkinson
Portfolio at www.rewilkinson.com
Contact at rewilkinson@me.com

On The Street, Taipei... Katherine

I have tried to be as eclectic as I possibly can with my professional life, and so far it's been pretty fun
- Roland Barthes


It's funny that so many people consider Asians to be conservative and shy. I think they definitely are in some respects, although maybe a better word to use is modest. But for some reason it feels like people in Asia can do way more with their style, really build in a sense of eclecticism that back in the West might be called eccentric and viewed as a negative. I mean, that's hugely stereotypical and probably borderline racist, but then it's a compliment really - that through a sense of the eclectic comes vibrancy, colour and a whole lot of life, which should be viewed as a very strong positive and anything but conservative and shy.

On The Street, Taipei... Chen

It doesn’t matter how slowly you go, so long as you do not stop
- Confucius


And when I started this, I kind of thought I'd do it for three years and try and get around 300 photos that I really loved, then I'd make myself a book and that'd be that, enough done. However now I kind of feel like it'd be neat to keep on going for like ten years, or even more, maybe indefinitely, as long as I can. So whenever I start to feel impatient or frustrated because I want to do more and more but circumstances make it otherwise, I take a step back and remind myself that so long as it keeps going and I don't call it a day, there is time enough to do more and that's the way it should happen.

On The Street, Tokyo... Isoda

The average novel invariably reads like a detective's report. It is drab and tedious because it is never objective
- Natsume Sōseki


I started doing all this after using streetstyle photographs of people to make characters for short stories from. And I keep thinking I'll do that again at some point. In fact, I definitely will, it's on the cards.

And I still see something of a character in people. Like Isoda, for example. I don't have a specific character for him exactly, except that I feel he'd fit very well into either a Kōbō Abe or a Haruki Murakami novel, maybe as an off-beat detective, someone who you bump into in the back alleys or upon turning a corner at night, and who your meeting with is absolute key to being able to move forward.

On The Street, Taipei... Jenny

There is no model, there is only colour
- Paul Cézanne