Behind The Scenes with Byron Spencer

13.Jun,2012

With a keen eye for style both in the studio and on the streets, Byron Spencer has quickly developed a reputation as one of Australia’s most compelling young fashion photographers.

From work for the Sun Herald’s lauded ‘Urban Style‘ column, to playful look-books for Sydney labels like Emma Mulholland and Lover, to spreads in our fave fashion bibles including Oyster and Grazia, to commercial work for Sportsgirl, Zara and more, there’s no doubt that Byron has been fast-tracked to a true arbiter of Aussie style.

And as the brother of 4th And Bleeker blogger and model Alexandra Spencer, cool factor clearly runs in the family!

Byron came to brandsExclusive headquarters last week to shoot for our stunning designer campaign (check out our exclusive behind the scenes video by eightyfive Productions below) where we chatted about inspiration, the fashion biz and a super-secret style crush!

How did you get into photography?
I had just finished a course in theatre and music, and I needed a little break from it. I ended up picking up a camera for fun, I had just got a Canon SLR….one thing led to another and I kept doing it til I got good enough to be paid!

Do you style your own shoots?
Not all of them! I love collaborating with stylists but I also love to style shoots my own way, I love fashion so that element is quite fun for me too.

What inspires you?
I am inspired by lots of things. Locations, people and fashion are big for me within my photography.

What’s the one thing you couldn’t live without?
My iPhone… followed closely by water.

What can’t you stop playing on your iTunes at the moment?
Grimes!

What are your favourite neighbourhoods for style spotting?
Paddington is my most usual spot to shoot the street style. I find it is the most consistent for spotting people regularly.

Do you read any other fashion/ photography blogs?
Yeah I try to. It makes more sense I guess in our generation to do that stuff online, but I still find myself being drawn to magazines and books much more.

What magazines do you look forward to reading?
I love seeing what Oyster deliver and I particularly adore I LOVE FAKE.

Who is your style icon?
Umm I do have this person I am pretty obsessed with but I don’t want to say because my friends will tease me! I just think he is the coolest dude and pulls of high end fashion so so well. He is very good looking though too, which helps I guess!?

Any upcoming projects to look out for?
I have a lot of stuff coming out soon, and I am shooting a lot more regularly, so hopefully expect lots!

If you haven’t already, you’ll definitely want to acquaint yourself with Byron’s blog, spencernotspencer.com.

Half urban style diary, half high-end fashion shoot, spencernotspencer is your backstage pass into the blossoming Aussie fashion scene, jam-packed with an impressively diverse array of street style, editorial, campaign productions and model off duty snaps.