THE SHOP KEEPER
This assignment at the Kellyville Shopping Center had a very warm surprise waiting for us.
What started out as commission to create photographs for the center's image-library, turned out to be a sensitive, warm and intimate meeting of the people that owned the businesses and hearing their stories.. listening to their history and how they built their commercial lives.
A beautiful mix of family, heritage, diversity, the migrant story and just joys of being in one place to grow roots.
When you spend much of your time in the city, where most of the businesses are franchises, big enterprises and I daresay impersonal establishments... here, there was a very warm sense of the businesses' as people... as living breathing entities. With their stories being told as we shot, it was a welcomed surprise... and a little pressure on keeping to schedule...
Kudos to Colliers for supporting these business' with content whilst they prepare for a large renovation to improve the infrastructure and feel of the center. Images will be used to keep their presence at the top of minds as works are carried out at the center; on socials, websites and print.
Below are some vignettes of the people that have built a big part of their lives around the Center.
Team and Tools:
Collier's Management | Brett Blignaut - Assist and Digi
D850 | 35mm | 105mm | 20mm | RBG tubes | A1 Profoto x2 | Tethered to Capture One | Retouched and Coloured in Photoshop CC24
Jack and his wife run the laundry and dry-cleaning services at the center. Alteration, mending, cleaning and pressing services keep them extremely busy as you can see from these portraits. As we created the photographs, they juggled through the on-going operations (taking calls on the phone, attending to walk-ins, working the sewing machine, sorting the finished laundry, pressing... it goes on!) with a spirit that hinted at some of the elements that bind us all together - the pursuit of happiness, prosperity driven by hope and the power that is the human potential.
Claire seems to know everyone that walks through and past her shop - one which she keeps with such pride. From what we saw, it was the experience of being in this space that was the magic element of Simone Louis, which just happens to sell accessories, fashion products, pieces sourced and selected from her reach as a stylist.
This generational business had given me a sense that some business' were built to last... not only on strong business fundamentals, but on relationships and ties that aren't empirical.
Jamie runs another generational business - supplying the fresh meats at Wright's. He has extended the products on offer to include ready-to-eat items such as pies and custom creations like the "Frangipani".
