We’ve been following the work of Sydney-based photographer Dakota Gordon for some time now. Growing up on Sydney’s northern beaches, she started shooting at a mere 15 years old. She taught herself how to use her first SLR, mostly shooting her friends and bands at local hardcore shows. It was in 2011 that she started to take her photography work a little more seriously. She started shooting on 35mm film with her Contax and things starting to pick up online. Circa this time, we first encountered her work rolling around Tumblr.
Young moody girls getting around the Sydney’s suburbia, clutching enormous frozen cokes, leering out from underneath beanies and mens streetwear. We were taken by her portrayal of youth and girlhood. There was beauty in the mundane and everyday. Her models were natural and real, freckled and exposed with an air of vulnerability but never, ever weak.
Dakota, her pseudonym for her real name she never reveals, has moved on from her candid street shots in recent years. Owning a sleek, minimal, stark aesthetic, her work is now punctuated by clean lines and bursts of restrained colour. Her work is more fashion and editorial based, where the models are still 100% cool, contrasting harshly with their surroundings and clothing.
Dakota is kicking serious goals in the last couple of years collaborating with publications like Oyster, Dazed&Confused, Bite, Drop and our own pals PITCH. Oh yes. We’re going to keep a keen eye on this young gun!
See more from Dakota Gordon on her website, and follow her on Instagram and Facebook.
