Last week I attended the Hysteric Snaps and Street Flash zine launch at London’s Waste Store. The event conceived a sanctuary for London’s subcultural youth- white painted faces, crinoline petticoats, patterned tights, pirate jackets, and puppets, overtook the crowded sidewalk outside the Hackney bookshop. For an industry that is often vapid, this event was unexpectedly touching, a warm reminder for why we care about fashion in the first place. I spoke to Will Wright about his project, Street Flash. Wright’s archive of 90s/00s street style mags was the impetus for Street Flash. Sharing his archival scans online during the pandemic connected Wright to a larger community of people seeking alternative modes of self-expression. Wright says he’s drawn to subjects who “have a particularly deep or unique relationship with what they’re wearing, without it being an overtly clouty or self-aware thing – I want to shoot eccentrics, not influencers.”
Both Wright, and Daisy Davidson of Hysteric Snaps, use photography and self-publishing to preserve the lineage of street style culture, contributing to the archive of the future. “I think there’s something very culturally immersive in the simple subject/background format of street photos, where the combination of nuances can instantly evoke memories of a particular time or place, or help you better imagine the essence of an era or city that you’ve never actually experienced firsthand,” Wright says, “It’s definitely a big goal of mine to produce work that has this kind of authentic, time-travel quality.” Here we take a sneak peek at Street Flash’s inaugural issue. All photos by Will Wright.– Claire Milbrath
Street Flash Zine Review
Last week I attended the Hysteric Snaps and Street Flash zine launch at London’s Waste Store. The event conceived a sanctuary for London’s subcultural youth- white painted faces, crinoline petticoats, patterned tights, pirate jackets, and puppets, overtook the crowded sidewalk outside the Hackney bookshop. For an industry that is often vapid, this event was unexpectedly touching, a warm reminder for why we care about fashion in the first place. I spoke to Will Wright about his project, Street Flash. Wright’s archive of 90s/00s street style mags was the impetus for Street Flash. Sharing his archival scans online during the pandemic connected Wright to a larger community of people seeking alternative modes of self-expression. Wright says he’s drawn to subjects who “have a particularly deep or unique relationship with what they’re wearing, without it being an overtly clouty or self-aware thing – I want to shoot eccentrics, not influencers.”
Both Wright, and Daisy Davidson of Hysteric Snaps, use photography and self-publishing to preserve the lineage of street style culture, contributing to the archive of the future. “I think there’s something very culturally immersive in the simple subject/background format of street photos, where the combination of nuances can instantly evoke memories of a particular time or place, or help you better imagine the essence of an era or city that you’ve never actually experienced firsthand,” Wright says, “It’s definitely a big goal of mine to produce work that has this kind of authentic, time-travel quality.” Here we take a sneak peek at Street Flash’s inaugural issue. All photos by Will Wright. – Claire Milbrath