The sea has a funny way of returning things to shore when it’s done with them. Like the 28,800 bath toys that spilled into the sea in 1992 and were still found washing up on shores around the world over a decade later (the dispersed army of adorable, unsinkable yellow rubber duckies inspiring – amoung other things – a 416 page book) or the 80,000…

These are not your regular gowns or accessories, bursting as they are with oceanic references and bordering as they are on wearable art. Handmade in Melbourne by Couture Inq, the tasselled bunches of phosphorescent white or teal are like sea anemones that have been plucked from their watery home. Strands of beads are coral coloured or made to look like black pearls. The whole collection,…

We’re yet to grow tired of the regular collaborations between photographer Peter Coulson and designer/creative madman/magpie Don Pezzano from Urbandon. The latter description is penned with the best regard: Pezzano’s pieces are always creatively put together from reclaimed bits and pieces (see this photoshoot for one of Coulson’s shoots of Urbandon’s unique jewellery pieces) and that’s all part of their appeal. In this shoot model…

We love shoots that push conceptual boundaries, take place against complex backdrops, tell stories and require all hands on deck to make them a reality. But at the other end of the spectrum are shoots that forgo the cast of thousands, make do without the studio lighting, and offer up a naturally beautiful result. This shoot is one of those stripped-back moments, involving only a…

How does a fashion photographer – one who specialises in the edgy and the fetishist, at that – go about conceptualising a campaign for an office storage company? For Peter Coulson, working with Australian brand Planex, the answer was obvious: a black and white shoot that would doff its hat in homage to the late, great, Helmut Newton. Office storage might not seem conducive to…

Fashion is, for many, a fetish. A construct of objects of desire. It’s a natural fit, then, for the desire for fashion to be projected onto traditional notions of sexual fetish. It’s why that little hint of the taboo, of the creeping desire that pushes the boundaries of like and lust, carries on as an undercurrent, a sub-plot, of every season. In this shoot for…

Fans of Project Runway’s Australian series might recognise these avant-garde pieces as belonging to Slovakian-born Matcho Suba. Suba’s secret ingredient to any collection is a little dash of shock value, be it in jingling bells strategically stitched into the bust of a sheer lace dress, or an unexpected mix of textures and styles. This collection splices femininity with all things wild – fur pelts and…

If the jewellery in this shoot strikes you as unusual and unique, it’s with good reason: that’s precisely what it is. Don Pezzano, the designer behind Sydney label Urbandon, creates one-off pieces from materials he’s scrounged or happened upon; metals are 100% recycled and fabrics are reclaimed. Some might see antique keys, door plates, clock parts, bolts and whistles as scrapheap junk – but in…

The unabashed nudity and fetishist themes would seem to draw clear reference to the likes of Helmut Newton and Guy Bourdin; though it’s the latter that more springs to mind when viewing Peter Coulson‘s hotel-based shoot. Like the mysterious, often surrealistic narratives that went into Bourdin’s works, Coulson delivers something that sits a little uneasy with the viewer. The room is sparse, the poses are…

Peter Coulson puts such an effective high fashion spin on this shoot that you might not, at first glance, realise the clothing comes from Gallery Serpentine – purveyors of corsetry and alternative couture. But that’s Coulson’s specialty: mixing fashion with fetish. Actual fetish, not just the latest Louis Vuitton patent leather cap interpretation. Model Alicia has the right mix of soft beauty and hard piercings,…