tommy ton for style.com
Tommy Ton is probably the best street style photographer working today. Love him or hate him - and I hardly know of anyone who does - he has a style that is all his own. Imitators (and there are many) can only dream of taking photos as perfectly realised as his. What I love most about Tommy Ton is the way he shoots as an unobtrusive observer, almost as if he has a telephoto lens and is crouching amidst the undergrowth, silently capturing his targets on film. Like a wildlife photographer, or a photojournalist in a warzone. And why not? Why is capturing the fash pack in the urban jungle that is fashion month any less of an act of rigorous photography than any other examples? This is said perfectly in the fact that style.com used to call his photo column "Our man in the street". That always used to make me laugh. Our man in the street, as if he was serving the same purpose as "Our man in Berlin". I guess in 10 or 20 years time people will look back at these photos to dissect style trends in the same way that people look back at dispatches from abroad. But there is something undeniably removed about his style. I like that his subjects rarely look at the camera and they seem to be caught on camera without their knowledge. Even though that is rarely the case, it's still a nice thought. These photos, with their tree branches and greenery and car mirrors obscuring view show just how Tommy Ton operates. And I love that style.com lets him upload these pictures that aren't perfect, that don't have Balenciaga in HI-RES, that aren't all about labels and faces and smiles. He's the intrepid street-style photographer, getting us plebs a glimpse into an exotic world so different from our own; Fashion people in their natural habitat.
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