Editorial | caramel animals

Barrie Rose: Rocky Doesn’t Know

Posted on September 20, 2016 by caramelanimals

Words and Photos: Reef Gaha | On Location with Barrie Rose in DTLA |

Barrie Rose has been described somewhere as an ingénue. It’s a pretty, musical word but its definition belies several levels of the skill and sophistication which this LA based musician possesses. Barrie retains the innocence of an ingénue, but adds depth and complexity to that paradigm. In the purest sense of the word, Rose is a chanteuse.

I first became aware of her music during a short residence in LA around 2010. We talked about collaborating on a series of photographs. Time flying over us as it does, I was unable to meet with Barrie until several years later in 2014, when we shot stills of her stretching and frolicking in the undercroft of the (now half demolished) 6^th St Bridge in downtown LA.

Perhaps for these reasons, my awareness of Barrie and her music is inextricably linked to Los Angeles as a place. This association is borne out by her long residence in Echo Park, and now Chinatown. When we sit down to talk for this article during September 2016, this sense of the city is one of the first things I mention.

How much a part of your music is your sense of place within LA? Would you say the city is a strong influence?

‘The environment and headspace I’m in when I write a song directly influence it. I write differently when I’m in other places. It’s to do with the energy of the place. The city is a big influence. Usually not over the content of the songs so much, but on how I’m feeling and what phase I’m in.’ Rose mentions one exception to this, her new song Chinatown, an artefact of having recently moved to the downtown neighbourhood.
‘I like fresh spaces and also write a lot when I travel, but I think my best songs still come from Los Angeles. I suppose I‘m trying to be honest about my feelings and situation, so I find the realism of myself according to where I am, literally. I mentioned ‘phases’ earlier. Inspiration comes in phases. That includes the styles I’m drawn to, and who’s close to me at a particular time. That can change every few months. Now I’m really into downtown and the grime and worn out stuff of the city. I feel there is beauty in that.’

Downtown LA is slowly but surely changing. Gentrification and urban renewal is slowly replacing the bricks and grime. What do you think about that?

‘I think as long as it’s done respectfully, being aware and considerate of the environment prior to you coming in (and with regard for the place and its uniqueness and character), and having a deep regard for the people who resided there before you, it’s okay.

That being said, there are so many different aspects of gentrification that deserve consideration within themselves. I can’t really generally say whether it’s good or bad. I mean there are many nuanced facets that I have varying opinions on.

I am also part of it, of course. In Echo Park, I lived in a studio apartment and all the other people in that small building were Mexican families. My rent was super cheap in relation to the norm around the city, and in the last few years it seems like that is harder and harder to find. The fact that Echo Park Lake was recently redone completely and is now a beautiful park as opposed to a smelly, swampy place, is a part of the good side of gentrification. I mean, bringing nice things to a growing community; that part of it I’m in favour of but simultaneously, I am glad to be out of that city just because it doesn’t really inspire me anymore.’

Now that you’ve moved, what are you working on?

‘Different things at the same time. I’m recording new songs. I’m excited about that because I really love the process of recording and just getting to the produced version of a song.

I am also coordinating this really big, fun benefit event at The Smell.’

The Smell is an all-ages, alcohol and drug-free, punk rock/noise/experimental venue in Downtown Los Angeles, recently faced with the threat of closure after being notified that their landlord has plans to demolish the building. Barrie rightly considers this to be an iconic venue.

I ask Barrie more about the benefit.

‘It’s going to have bands of course, but at the same time there’ll be a lot of surprises that you won’t be able to find anywhere else.’ Rose is humble about her involvement. ‘I like the idea that this will be a special, once-in-a-lifetime event that requires a lot of thought and development, but ultimately we’re just creating the experience that can only be had if you’re actually at The Smell. It’s happening on November 5^th. ‘

Like the city she inhabits, many of Barrie’s songs are populated by stories. Some are autobiographical while yet more tell the tale of others, seemingly observed through random encounters. I ask Barrie to explain the back story behind a few lines.

Are there any true life stories behind your songs which are particularly strange?

‘I write what I know, so it’s mostly all reflections on experience or people that have really affected me. Sometimes lyrics come up in my songs and I don’t know what I was referring to until much later, when I make the subconscious connections. There’s this new song with a line that goes ‘I saw the robber and the robber had a gun’ which I had no idea about [at the time of writing]. Later I remembered a time when I was 15 (in my really bad-girl years) where I was drunk and sitting in the back of someone’s car, a friend-of-a-friend I think. I found a gun [in the car] and this person had actually just robbed someone. That scared me. A lot of questionable things have happened in my past and some things are really tucked deeply in there, and it’s only sometimes that memories get triggered.’

Can you tell me about the story of Rocky?

‘Rocky is a transgender homeless kid. He/she is trying to find her place in the world. I think it was one of those songs that just came out. I mean I wrote it, but it was one of those songs that just needed to be written that I didn’t think too much about.’

So, she’s a real person that you see around LA?

‘No not exactly. I have met people like that. I mean, I have met Rocky in different forms.’

Like, an embodiment of a few characters?

‘Yeah sure, more of an archetype; an idea and a feeling, or a made up character that might be real.

It might be me. The line ‘Rocky doesn’t know, he wasn’t even born’ sticks with me because it’s also the feeling, ‘what if none of this is real? Why was I born at this time and place?’’

I like the line ‘don’t make a man apologise for everything he lacks’.

‘Yeah, because sometimes you can’t help the person you’ve become. I mean you are a product of your past and what you’ve grown to know. It’s not Rocky’s fault she is the way she is. She was born into a certain body with a certain brain.

One day she just runs away without anything and just leaves home. No purse or any form of ID, because she wants to start fresh.’

Some of your songs are about dream-like states, others are about relationships. Some are about personal affirmations. There’s even one about money. What do you like to write about? What are you mostly inspired to write about when you sit down to pen a song?

‘Whatever is on my mind. I suppose I‘m trying to be the best person I can be, and learn to grow from every experience. A lot of writing in the past, I came from a place of hurt, but these days, I come from a place of love and understanding. Like, I am observing life happening, and flowing with it as it unfolds. I write a lot with ‘source’ in mind, which is this guidance I am receiving.’

Kind of a spiritual sense?

‘It is beyond me and doesn’t really require a label, except to try to name it. Sometimes the songs just write themselves, which is why I need to quiet my mind a lot, for the sake of my own sanity and in order to be in a place where I can receive.’

What are some of the things you do outside music that influence your process?

‘Meditation, I do a lot. I write in my notebook every day. I stretch. Laughing a lot and being with funny people and joking or playing around. Movement; I have a lot of energy that I have to move out in order to be calm. Reading inspiring books or watching movies. Sleeping. Spontaneous adventures, skating or bike riding or walking. Being with people I love really influences me. I think everything influences me, but mostly meditation because I need that to function at this point.’

Barrie Rose warming up before playing live at Tribal Cafe in Echo Park

Your music occupies a few different spaces, from electronic pop with an experimental edge through to folk and/or folktronica. Tell us about your production process. Are you producing alone or with collaborators?

‘I’ve been through a lot of phases with my music. I’ve been in various bands and collaborated a lot. My last EP called ‘The Breakthru pt. 1 Sweetsweet’, I produced. I recorded everything with my own basic setup and had some friends play on it. I played some of the instruments as well. That was a little more raw than the album before it. Drums and bass, guitar and synths.

The full album that I self-released in February, called ‘Dreamz Come True and Love is Real’ was done with an awesome producer named Adam Samuel Goldman. That has a polished electro-pop, dance sound. It took a while to make, but I love that album so much and really want more people to hear it. I feel like it deserves that. I was super into this electro-pop, performance 80’s, 90s futuristic style.

For a while, I had a full live band with amazing dancers who had choreographed dances to every song. That was called ‘Barrie and the Starz’, then the live band kind of came apart. I was a bit burnt out after that. I had to start afresh and figure out what I wanted to do, so I just wrote more and worked with what I had (which was myself). I realised that this is a life-long solo project, and I will always collab with other people, but the thread that connects it all is my voice and my song-writing style. Underneath it all, they are just songs that need to come out [of me]. ‘

Do you feel like you’re part of a particular community or scene within LA?

‘No, not really. I’ve noticed that there are a lot of scenes in L.A., but I never really belonged to any particular one. I like to be friends with a lot of different types of people, and find I can connect with a lot of people from various scenes.’

Barrie Rose live at Tribal Cafe in Echo Park

What’s next on the cards for you in terms of tours or releases? Where can we see or hear you play?

‘Well, I want to tour all over the world. I’m sure there will be more releases, because I’m always working on new music. I’ll always post that stuff on Facebook or Instagram or wherever, because I want people to hear it of course!

The next big show is November 5th at The Smell. I’ll play last because I want everyone I booked to get the best spots. Hopefully people will stay around ‘til late to watch me play too. I love playing shows.’

Stay out late to see Barrie play at The Smell on November 5^th, 247 S Main St. Los Angeles. http://www.thesmell.org/ #savethesmell

Barrie Rose on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/4LJQd3H2wiOxlndItDhIjS

Barrie Rose on Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/barrieisqueen

Barrie Rose on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/barrierose

MBFWA 2016 In Parting: A Tiny Runway Review

Posted on June 5, 2016 by caramelanimals

Words and Photos: Reef Gaha | Image Selections: Chloe Crawford | Front of House at MBFWA 2016 |

Caramel Animals presents: a retrospective and alternative look at five MBFWA 2016 shows, captured as our contributors worked furiously behind-the-scenes on parallel projects.
Now that the dust has settled (or was it glitter?), we bring you this irreverent and non-comprehensive look back at a few key Resort ‘16/’17 collection showcases.

Misha Collection

This show grabbed all the headlines thanks to the inclusion of celebrity model Bella Hadid in the catwalk line-up. Bella is high profile – perhaps thanks in part to big sister Gigi also being a prominent model, and perhaps partly due to romantic ties with contempo Hip Hop artist The Weeknd (sic). Her mama Yolanda was also a prominent model in the 1980s, while Bella has made a couple of appearances on one of this generation’s more notorious reality TV shows (about a certain family), and several high calibre magazine covers including Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, Elle and GQ.

So how about the threads? Misha Collection’s Michelle Aznavorian brought a black and nude palate, with sheer fabrics offset by corsets, lace and tailored dresses, some topped with flowing pieces reminiscent of pared down (let’s avoid the word ‘deconstructed’) elegant trench coats following a feminine silhouette.
Hair wise, Dale Delaporte and the Prema team brought a slicked back ponytail look, with velvet fabric wrapped around the length of the ponytail. Bella seemed to enjoy the ‘do so much, she kept the pony in while socialising in Sydney later that evening.
Get this hair look

Yeojin Bae

Yeojin’s ‘Contemplation Collection’ marked the 10^th anniversary of this label. A palate of red, emerald (Lacoste green, perhaps?), black and rouge nudes set the tone for structured, geometric shoulders. This was complemented by ribbon-cut tassels on flowing skirts and silk fabrics, alongside form fitting shapes and the angular colour blocking with which Yeojin is synonymous.

Steven Khalil

Each successive look in this runway stepped up the opulence and splendour in subtle degrees until the glamour reached its crescendo with the appearance of a $100,000 wedding dress – reportedly 6 months in the making. The colour palate was shades of Grace Kelly and Audrey H. Khalil presented a collection that included both chic, modern tailored pieces and classic flowing gowns. Metallic details, A-lines and pants, and structured necklines graduated into flowing gowns, delicate lace and applied floral touches.

Dale and the Prema team complemented Khalil’s high, detailed necklines by keeping hair ‘stripped away from the face’, tucking strands behind the head, or sweeping tresses back into braids, whilst height and a lush texture at the hairline added gloss and shine.
Get this hair look.

We Are Handsome

Electric prints, striking neon colour and bold fabrics; We Are Handsome’s ‘Hustle Theory’ and ‘Heat Seven’ collections were the highlight of an MBFWA Thursday set aside for active and swimwear. Each model walked tall in patent gold high-tops, athletic hoods, crop tops and leggings eventually peeled away to reveal acid-tropical swim suits, risqué mesh bodysuits and Blade Runner-esque transparent vinyl pieces.

Garreth Lenagh for Prema styled the hair in keeping with the active theme. The wet, anti-glamour look was evocative of hitting the streets straight from the beach or gym locker room. ‘Sectioning in the front of the hair embodies the simple act of ‘a girl running fingers through her hair’ while ‘the gold pins were imperfectly placed’ to give the look of a girl who ‘doesn’t use a mirror when getting ready.’
Get this hair look.

Oscar De La Renta

One of the first international fashion houses to have shown at MBFWA, De La Renta’s collection closed the week in spectacular form enlisting celeb Australian model Shanina Shaik, and setting the show to a philharmonic sounding cover of Madonna’s Papa Don’t Preach. A diversity of ball gowns, cocktail dresses, skirts and day-to-evening wear were sashayed forth in a range of colours from bold oranges and reds through to deep navy and light powdery blues. Feminine contrast was the key as vibrant floral prints and embroidered pieces also appeared along with blazers and pants suits in a myriad of rich fabrics.
John Pulitano of Headcase directed hair styling for Redken. ‘The look was inspired by the collection which was very French, rich and dreamy. We wanted a modern take on a classic chignon… We did that by creating more of a raw texture into the hair and having quite a few fly-always, giving the overall look a classic modern yet ethereal feel.’

In all, over 55 designers showed at MBFWA 2016 and we’ve only shown you 9.09090909091% here.
Despite some initial misgivings, the new May timeslot and the shift to a Resort Collection focus appears to have been a complete success. For a look behind-the-scenes at some of the hard work which took place backstage, check out MBFWA 2016: Fashion Week from the Other Side.

Reef Gaha is a Sydney based photographer.

Beauty, Editorial, Fashion, Hair

MBFWA 2016: Fashion Week from the Other Side

Gallery | Posted on May 24, 2016 by caramelanimals

WORDS AND PHOTOS: Reef Gaha | Behind the Scenes at MBFWA 2016 |

As a working photographer, Australian Fashion Week has long been one of the annual events I look forward to shooting most each year. From my early years of furiously attempting to shoot every single runway and backstage, to assignments filing coverage for waiting publications (or in recent years, brands) Fashion Week is more than the sum of its parts…

More than just the hallowed designers and their collections which form the primary focus; more than the models whose youth, charisma and superhuman ability are writ large at every turn; more than the state-of-the-art hair and makeup, the flair of which transforms disparate bands of girls and boys into a unified brethren of follicle and face.

Behind the scenes, fashion week is also a convention and annual ‘reunion’ of professionals from the above industries. Each year, I look forward to seeing and working with extremely talented people it would otherwise be impossible to find under one roof. Running away to join the MBFWA circus once a year means catching up with one or two photographers whose imagery baffles my mind, and being able to observe or even help them work (maybe coming away just slightly less baffled).

As someone whose primary interest in photography has always been the portrait (or more specifically, images of people in relation to the signifiers of our time: art, fashion and music), Fashion Weeks are a joy. Sure, there are those who find matters seemingly so driven by appearance as fairly ho-hum, but that’s missing the point. The hard work, camaraderie and spirit of so many creative and dedicated people are chronicled by this annual event.

To that end, here’s a little photo essay capturing some of that spirit, from a behind-the-scenes perspective. My brief for the past several installments of MBFWA has been hair and makeup driven and no doubt, they’ll receive a fair portion of focus in this album.

Smiling faces and goofy hand gestures may receive much of the rest…

Model Nicole Pollard shows some Prema love.

The many faces of Fashion Week debutante Olivia-James, a girl so cool, they gave her two first names.

Backstage you soon learn, it’s a brave man who comes between a girl and her snacks…

… and that at any time, Bondi Rescue men may appear to spirit girls away on surboards. Such is the order of things.

Creative disciplines work in synthesis to drive a helix of skill and talent.

At times, the hair and makeup artistry can only be described as flawless.

One distinct privilege of working behind the scenes at Fashion Week is seeing the amazing Redken hair team in action lead by directors Richard Kavanagh, John Pulitano and Philip Barwick.
This year, conspicuous in its absence, Richard’s trademark ‘muscle man mustache’ and quiff. In their place, a look more akin to Richards pugilistic roots.

Regular readers of Caramel Animals will be no stranger to the stylings of Dale Delaporte and the Prema hair team (see https://caramelanimals.com/2015/12/22/life-death-and-dale-delaporte/ for more).

Fashion Week isn’t always about glamour and clamour.

There are also several photographers in attendance at Fashion Week who never cease to astound me with their incredible natural gift. Before closing I’d like to make special mention of Mark Nolan from Getty Images. (http://www.gettyimages.com.au/galleries/photographers/mark_nolan for a small selection)

Mark Nolan

Mark, a family man and former rugby player, began shooting local football games after hanging up his boots in the 35mm days, before coming to the notice of a sports editor. He’d probably hate me saying this, but there’s something masterful in each of his shots, despite fashion never having been his main focus.

That’s where I’ll leave it for now. I’ll follow up with some show specific image galleries later this week.

Reef Gaha is a Sydney based photographer.

Emmelie Björnsdotter: Malmö Calling

Posted on October 21, 2015 by caramelanimals

Words and Photos: Reef Gaha | Hair and Makeup: Jeanette Rodriguez-Wallner | Models: Sweden Models, Malmö |

This story is about a reunion. It’s also a story about travel and fashion. Mostly though, it’s a story about taking creative chances and the unbelievable things that can happen when you do.

We begin some 8 or 9 years ago.

I met Emmelie Björnsdotter in Sydney during the early spring of 2006. Like thousands of others that year, she and her sister were international visitors in Bondi. On a sabbatical from their native Sweden, they were here to escape the northern winter and enjoy the temperate Australian lifestyle. This was during a time when every day I’d hungrily, almost impatiently take to the streets with a camera. With any shred of spare time I could muster, I’d seek out subjects. I had the gall to approach and lens anyone I found interesting, at any hour of the day (or night).

Fashion has always been a central premise for my wanting to photograph a person. At times, I’ve felt what can only be described as an urgency around the documentation of emerging style; exploring the apex of where people and fashion (and the subcultures from which it constantly re-emerges) meet. Whilst rudimentary and carefree, Emmelie’s approach to clothing at that time was definitely one of ‘vintage modification’, changing found jeans into skirts and loose shorts, dresses into gypsy-like tops or halters. As the season and holiday climes dictated, her look was born of ease and simplicity rather than a high street aesthetic. Even so, it spoke of a certain joy in textile based creativity. At the time, she supplemented her income in Sydney by working in fashion retail, while making alterations to off-the-rack garments for store customers.

Fast forwarding through several years and the next I hear of Emmelie, she’s in New York assisting Helena Fredrikkson in her Brooklyn design studio. Having spent the ensuing years studying fashion and product design (as well as the technical side of garment making) she’s followed her dreams to the United States. ‘Since I was a child, I´ve always equated happiness with three things; fabric, needle and thread. If you’ve got these, you’re able to make magical things’ she says.

‘The philosophy of finding happiness through creativity is something I always try to live by.’

In the academic mix along with all the creative swotting, there’s also a smattering of business, and it’s not long before she returns to Sweden to open her own concept retail store. Here, she combines eclectic vintage garments found on buying trips to London, Manchester and Paris with a finely honed curation of new European ‘ready to wear’ lines.

Skip a few chapters. It’s 2014. I’m running to catch an overnight train from Berlin to Malmö on what seems a balmy German summer evening. The journey is to begin at Hauptbahnhoff, but there’s a false start; the train will instead depart from a small station around 40 minutes outside Berlin. Passengers hurriedly change platforms and ride to the connecting ‘hoff in what becomes pouring midnight rain. Before long we’re in the middle of nowhere and little of our surroundings are visible but for dim lamp posts lightly illuminating the drizzle. Impressions of how the German landscape might have seemed to an allied soldier behind enemy lines in WWII. At a whistle stop station, we disembark from the suburban train and bodies cram into all available couchettes on the sleeping car to Sweden. We begin the chug toward the Baltic Sea, then stop dead. After a 4 hour layover the entire train rolls onto a commuter ferry in Rostock and begins the crossing toward Malmö. Morning breaks over the water. A shower and buffet breakfast amidst ship and we’re nearing the Skane capital. My cellphone battery is all but dead, but I’m meeting with Emmelie. I make my last attempts to telecommunicate and arrangements are made.

Emmelie is at the end of a 3 year stint running her own store ‘eMMIT Mode’ when we’re reunited in Malmö, an adopted home in her native Sweden. We meet with her sister at a small pub close to the centre of town. Reminiscence and deep hugs. It’s not until the following day that I get to see her store. I arrive and take a look around. Emmelie’s minimal style is in evidence throughout the space, but it’s not long before I’m lead to a room at rear of the shop, where she begins assembling hangers bearing her own design and needlework onto racks.

More curation, but this time every stitch is of her own creation. It’s this collection of garments that we’ll lay out and arrange in running order for a photo shoot planned to take place in Malmö over the following days, the results of which you see here.

My Swedish Airbnb sourced digs are so perfectly Scandinavian that I never want to leave; warm, minimally well decorated and hewn with solidity in a way that Anglo-built residential structures are generally not. My host is Swedish by way of Argentina, so among all the scandic charm are South American flourishes like small cacti and bed coverings reminiscent of Bolivian weaving. It’s temporarily raining in Malmö, and Gustavo offers me the loan of wet weather gear. The Wi-Fi password is left welcomingly on my bedside table. Thoughtful, considered. Appreciated.

Location scouting and casting for talent in a new city can be difficult. You might not speak the language, the geography is unfamiliar and convenient personal transport is usually traded for the utility of buses, trains and cabs. Days are planned with Google maps and slightly nervous phone calls. All the same, it’s hugely inspiring. There’s something magical about working on the other side of the world, and somehow finding yourself at home. I email Therese from Sweden Models, then call. I’m due back in Berlin within days, so everything is very last minute. She looks over my portfolio and mood boards before showing me comp cards of models for Emmelie’s shoot. We choose Linnea and are happily informed she’ll be available for the shoot date.

This leaves me with a day or so to find a hair stylist and makeup artist. I head straight for Makeupstudion on Amiralesgatan and hand over my book and email address. Within hours, the school puts me in touch with Jeanette Wallner, and a crucial piece falls into place.

The weather in Malmö leading up to the shoot date is wet and windy. I curb my ambitions regarding location slightly. Sweeping grasslands along the Øresund shoreline are traded for the post-industrial brick-out of the environs immediately surrounding the office of Sweden Models. Here I’m greeted by a disused shipping lock flanked by old factory buildings on one side, and newer glass and steel buildings on the other. It’s not the open Swedish moorland I’d imagined, but it’s sheltered, sparse and affords gorgeous late afternoon sunlight, so it’s in. On the day of the shoot, a new girl arrives for a go-see at Sweden Models’ offices, with a limited number of photos. Therese suggests I work her into the shoot with Linnea, and I agree.

What transpired is what you see here.