The Twitchery

When looking at Sonia Rentsch's work, we often find ourselves so transfixed that we end up in another world. Our reaction to Sonia's 'Harm Less' series for the latest January Biannual was no different. For this series, Art Director Olivia Nicholas asked Sonia to take inspiration from Nick Knight's imagery of dried plant specimens and ponder the themes of Life, Death, Ritual and Evolution. The result was a concept and execution so elegant that your mind can't help but pursue these motifs.

Concept and Styling: Sonia Rentsch / Photographer: Albert Comper / Client: January Biannual.

Neuw Denim recently enlisted fashion pro Jo Duck to shoot their Fall/Winter campaign: a small glance and you can see there was romance. Neuw's visual attraction to 50s and 60s cinematic references – particularly of the rebellious delinquent characters – resonated with Jo, and gave her a clear sense of the collection's visual language. Jo's aim was "to get that feeling of being warm in the white crisp winter light": a mood which she most definitely captured. To see more shots from this perfect pairing, head over here. 

Adam Custins explored the intricacies of Valentine's Day to form a stunning 'Visual Opinion' for Always Sometimes Anytime. Is there anything more romantic than Adam's delicate and considered imagery? We think not. Take a closer look and read Adam's short essay on the subject here.

Photography: Adam Custins / Models: Matt Purcell at Clyne and Rebecca Dore at Red11 / Matt wears shirt by Hollander & Lexer, Rebecca wears scarf by Angela McKay.

The Twitchery's Jo Duck shot the hero fashion spread for Girlfriend Magazine's January issue. Titled 'Boys of Summer', the shoot featured model Isabelle Cornish, and was styled by Girlfriend's Sadaf Razi. Don Henley would be proud.

Photographer: Jo Duck / Stylist: Sadaf Razi / Hair and Makeup: Megan Harrison.

It's pretty much guaranteed that you will be overcome with an intense thirst while looking through John Laurie's recent shoot for Capi. Working with Seamus & Sons and Never Now, in addition to Stylist Deb Kaloper, John shot an incredible set of brand imagery photographs for the mixer, soda and pure water company. To see the photos from the series, head over here.

Late last year, Sean Fennessy achieved a sacred photography career goal: he shot a beer ad. Working with Clemenger BBDO Melbourne – and Twitchery's super-stylist Andy Irwin – Sean captured this delightfully bizarre image for Carlton Dry's latest 'Hello Beer' campaign. This print and outdoor campaign is so ubiquitous, it's difficult not to spot one of these beauties during daily travels. Tip of the hat to Sean, Andy, and the Twitchery production team.

The Twitchery's master still-life stylist Sonia Rentsch has joined a stellar line up of artists to exhibit at The Design Files Open House. Three of Sonia's pieces feature in the beautifully furnished house, which is open until Sunday December 2. Joining Sonia at The Design Files Open House are Jacky Winter artists Beci Orpin, Kat Macleod and Oslo Davis. To find out more about this special space, visit the website here.

Right now, men all over Australia are cajoling and crafting facial hair in one very particular, very special, place: under their nose. Movember is now in its tenth year, and moustaches are being grown left, right and centre to help raise funds and awareness for men's health. Key to this year's 'Mo & Sons' Movember campaign was a moody set of hero shots by the Twitchery's Scottie Cameron. The theme for this year's campaign was the 'exchange of knowledge between important figures in our lives', and Scottie worked closely with Movember founders and designers Urchin to capture just that. To see more shots from the series, mosey on over here.

Last month, Sean Fennessy flew up to Queensland's Hamilton Island to cover the haven's most glamourous yachting regatta, 'Race Week'. This dream assignment came courtesy of luxury website NOWNESS – who commissioned Sean to document the event in all its Moët-sipping glory. Sean mingled with the island's temporary population of stars, gold-medal-winning Olympians and weathered sailors in order to capture the essence of the week. He even managed to sneak a behind-the-scenes shot of highly-respected chef Shannon Bennett, who was on the island to ensure the rich and famous were well-fed. In the NOWNESS coverage, Sean explained that his aim was to “capture these events from the inside and glimpse into a world of excess and privilege". To find out more about this impressive project, you can read a copy of Sean's written observations here, and feast your eyes on more imagery from the series here.

Our favourite still-life stylist and art director Sonia Rentch now has another title to add to her growing collection: '3D Illustrator'. The new term is thanks to a profile article written by Lieu Thi Pham, in the September/October 2012 issue of (inside) magazine. The article, titled 'Chasing Beauty', explores Sonia's fascinating path into this field, in addition to the unique qualities that make Sonia's work so special. To hunt down a digital or physical copy of the article and magazine, please visit the Australian Design Review website.

Megan Cullen recently engaged with the sporting world thanks to a very special commission for Melbourne's Crown Casino. For an annual exhibition at the venue, Megan was asked to shoot a series of portraits of AFL and Melbourne Storm players. The traditional realisation of this project has seen various photographers take part in group shows, however this time around Crown wanted one and only artist: Megan. The commission involved free reign with the subjects, and Megan's response was to strip back the production to only involve herself, the player and a camera. The strategy worked, as it assisted Megan in achieving some very intimate and vulnerable portraits of the sportsmen. The exhibition featured AFL players Daniel Rich (pictured), Bryce Gibbs, Callan Ward, Cyril Rioli, Jack Trengove, Matthew Leuenberger, Nic Naitanui and Paddy Ryder, in addition to former player Shane Crawford. Representing the Melbourne Storm were NRL players Kevin Proctor, Cameron Smith and Ryan Hinchcliffe. The exhibition is currently on display at Crown Casino, and can be viewed until October 7.

The delightful and dashing Scottie Cameron has given his website an overhaul – providing everyone with a new excuse to delve into his ever-expanding portfolio. The refreshed site features Scottie's latest projects for clients such as Neuw Denim, Film Victoria, City of Melbourne and Movember. The site was built with thanks to Coöp and Sam Morgan.

Jo Duck recently worked with the Australian Ballet to produce this stunning hero image for the company's upcoming season of 'Icons'. A key production in the Australian Ballet's 50th anniversary program, 'Icons' features three Australian works from the 60s, 70s and 80s. In developing the concept for this image, Jo took inspiration from the first piece on the bill – Sir Robert Helpmann’s 'The Display'. Influenced by a dream in which Helpman "saw a naked Katharine Hepburn on a dais surrounded by lyrebirds", the choreography is said to relate mating rituals to the behaviour of men fighting over a woman at an Australian picnic. If the production is as beautiful as Jo's image, then ballet audiences are most definitely in for a treat.

Sean Fennessy has a particular talent for capturing the modern environment. With this well-documented fact, it is unsurprising that Sean has been invited by Melbourne's Edmund Pearce Gallery to take part in the group exhibition 'Territory'. Best described by the gallery itself, the exhibition "examines the topographies of our urban existence", utilising the observations of six contemporary photographers to delve "into the interconnected psyche of urban living". Following its opening tonight – Thursday July 26 – from 6-8pm, Territory will be showing until August 11 at Edmund Pearce Gallery, in the Nicholas Building, Swanston St, Melbourne.

We're consistently mesmerised by Sonia Rentsch's extraordinary ability to create breathtaking imagery. This time we caught our breath while admiring Sonia's compositions for the 2012 Look.Stop.Shop campaign. Curated by Moth Design, the City of Melbourne retail initiative invites local artists to collaborate with selected retail stores trading within Melbourne. Sonia worked with Moth Design to create a set of three stunning hero images for the campaign; based on the theme of 'Hidden Gems and Rough Diamonds'. In addition to her work on the campaign, Sonia is exhibiting as an artist for the initiative with Ben Davies at Lord Coconut. Look.Stop.Shop's 'Hidden Gems and Rough Diamonds' will be on display at participating retailers from July 18 - July 29. To see more of Sonia's work on the project, be sure to pick up a copy of the map and program at participating retailers.

Megan Cullen will join an esteemed group of artists (including Jacky Winter's Webuyyourkids) for a group exhibition that explores the complex symbolism and identity issues linked to the humble flag. Curated by Joseph Allen Shea, 'New Empires' will be showing from Friday July 13 at Byron Bay's V.S.T.R. If you are in that beautiful part of the world, ensure you see Megan's similarly stunning work before the exhibition closes on August 26.

Working with Chadstone The Fashion Capital, Jo Duck recently graced the pages of 'Fashion Capital Extra' with a fashion feature. Titled 'Get Your Kicks', the shoot explored the bold looks that are born from a mix of high-end labels and street clothing. Jo integrated street-chic locations with studio settings to perfectly capture the athletic yet luxe looks produced by the mix. 

Photography: Jo Duck
Styling: Jade Leung

Image-making and retouching specialists Toby and Pete have officially unveiled their latest project: Parklife 2012. Toby and Pete not only crafted the evocative images for the Australian music festival, they created the campaign from concept through to finished film and print. To see more of Toby and Pete's work on the project, please visit the Parklife website.

Art Direction and Image Crafting: Toby and Pete
Photography: Kristian Taylor-Wood

Director: Angus Forbes

Cinematographer: Dan Freene

It's pretty safe to say that Jo Duck is a champion. The highly-respected Ones 2 Watch magazine agrees, which is why Jo was featured on the cover of the 'Champion' themed Issue #22. To pore over the feature and see more from Jo's saucy Baby G shoot, please visit the Ones To Watch website. 

It's not often that a lookbook for haircare brand will leave you breathless, but John Laurie's work on the latest evo campaign has done just that. With his penchant for crafting eye-catching scenes, John has transformed evo's latest publication into an object of beauty and humour. John worked with Australian design talents Mash on the project, who electrified the bold shots with similarly bold design. To see more photographs the series, please visit John's folio page.

Kimbra's love of Thom Kerr does not appear to be waning. We spotted a photograph from Thom's recent shoot of the music star alongside an insightful feature in Interview Magazine. We look forward to seeing more of Thom's moody Kimbra scenes revealed.

We're very pleased to share the latest news from the Twitchery's own Sean Fennessy. Sean was recently announced as a finalist in the Photography category for the Qantas SOYA Awards. The shortlist featured Australia's best, and we're both unsurprised and immensely proud to see that Sean was included. To view Sean's top ten entry, please visit the SOYA 365 website.

The Twitchery are proud to welcome Melbourne-based art director and still life stylist Sonia Rentsch into the fold. Not one to take a well-trodden path, Sonia’s entry into the photography world as a still life stylist began with a degree in Industrial Design from RMIT University. Following her graduation, Sonia built up a diverse client list including the L’oréal Melbourne Fashion Festival, the Suddeutsche Zeitung (Germany) & Christian Dior (UK). In 2007 she managed the Australian arm of renowned Paris forecasting studio Trend Union at the National Design Centre and was editor-at-large of the short lived but popular Design Papers. More recently Sonia has worked for the creative house Moth Design (Melbourne), before a rendezvous in Berlin where she transitioned to film and still life set design under the watchful eyes of wunderkind Sarah Illenberger, and the incredible Sarah Horton. Thanks to the combination of this impressive history and her stellar folio, it is with great pleasure that we welcome Sonia into The Twitchery. To find out more about Sonia, you can read her interview and Guest Blog on The Design Files, or browse her folio here.

Megan Cullen's heart belongs to Santa Fe. In a recent interview on Russh magazine's 'The Collective' blog, her love of the American city is laid bare when asked about her upcoming, and as-yet-untitled, feature film. The film will serve as a testament to Megan's sentimental connection with the city, its culture, and its people, as well as the striking desert landscapes and wide open skies that so enchanted her as a child. Megan's extraordinary talent behind the still lens has already translated successfully into the world of moving pictures, so it is with eager eyes that we wait for this next instalment of her accomplished folio.

From the moment Sean Fennessy first began working with The Design Files we have been enchanted by his talent for capturing beautifully articulated scenes. This week we've been fortunate enough to witness Sean's take on the coastal city of Newcastle, thanks to his week-long photo reporting for the highly-respected blog. Sean's scenes of Newcastle are leaving us breathless; and once you have experienced them you will know why. To see more of Sean's incredible Newcastle photography please visit The Design Files.

Ever the epitome of enthusiasm and extraordinary creativity, Thom Kerr's signature brand of enchanting imagery graced the cover of Good Weekend magazine last weekend with an eye-popping colour portrait of Australian musician Kimbra Johnson. The two collaborated on the shoot during a recent stint in New York, and quickly affirmed a strong professional relationship, ripe for mutual creative endeavours. A perfect match to her love of vintage fashion and alluring charisma, Thom's beautifully executed style has created a fairy tale-like, woodlands-inspired world in which Kimbra can frolic, happily ever after.

Produced by Jessie Sara English, with styling by Cassandra Scott-Finn, makeup by Jovita Lee, and hair by Lauren McCowan.

French magazine I Heart recently recruited local fashion photography darling, and the Twitchery's own, Jo Duck, for a shoot in their 'I Heart Melbourne' edition. Ironically, she received the call while on a brief sojourn in none other than Paris itself, but the home-town shoot was scheduled in upon her return, with the results nothing short of gorgeous. Holding an air of faded Hollywood glamour, the grand, 1930s deco-style surrounds of the Beverly Hills apartments in South Yarra serve as an ideal backdrop to Jo's penchant for whimsy and nostalgia; styled by Jade Leung, the shoot combines the best of Melbourne-made boutique fashion with a few timeless pieces. Jo's seemingly effortless ability to capture these moments of raw beauty continues to delight, while her impressive portfolio ever expands.

The Twitchery's bright and brilliant Thom Kerr has fast become a Myer favourite, and we're far from surprised. Thom has thoroughly indulged our senses by sculpting and shooting like a master artist for the Miss Shop Blogger Project. The project places fifteen respected fashion bloggers in front of the camera in order to celebrate and promote key Miss Shop Autumn Winter 2012 trends. Thom began by shooting Nicole Warne from Gary Pepper Vintage in the pictured travel-themed series. Myer soon enlisted Thom to photograph Tessa-Jay Slight from Circa Now and Annabel Wendt from Lovemore in equally dazzling scenes. To see more of Thom's work on the project, be sure to visit the Miss Shop Blogger Project website.

This coming June will mark the five year anniversary of The Jacky Winter Group, and it's definitely been a long, strange trip. From our humble beginnings in a North Carlton bedroom, we never could have imagined things would have gone this far. It's sort of like a Jay-Z tune, but with less hyperbole. 

Anyway! If there's one things that illustrates (no pun intended) our core philosophy, it is that we have never done things the same way, and have constantly evolved to meet the ever-changing demands of our clients and artists. 

When dozens of emerging illustrators approached us after our 12 artist launch, we made The Hatch. When our clients wanted storyboards and traditional artists, we made The Bowery. Our artists wanted to do gallery shows, so we built Lamington Drive. Relationships with international artists blossomed, and Rock of Eye was formed. Storyboard work turned into motion graphics, and Flutter emerged.

Today is a very special day as it marks a very important phase in our growth as an agency, as The Jacky Winter Group launches The Twitchery, our first foray into photography.

Over the past five years, we have noticed the lines between image makers and image capturers growing increasingly thin, and The Twitchery is our response to this. This agency has been a long time in the making, and we are so ridiculously proud of the phenomenal talent that has joined us in this venture. 

Ranging from photographers to 3D artists and retouchers, with crew members to come in the following weeks, The Twitchery will be doing for photography what Jacky Winter has done for illustration, and then some. 

Anyway, enough words. Let the pictures speak for themselves. Maximise your browser window and head over to the artists page to the left, and see what all the fuss is about.

(photo by John Laurie)

The Twitchery's Adam Custins recently unveiled his 'Moon' series at the 24 Fingers Art Collective exhibition. The piece featured in the exhibition was the debut in a series exploring Adam's fascination with natural light and purity of image. The photographs are a product of traditional methods of natural exposure, utilising moonlight and instant film. The exhibition may have come to a close, however we're looking forward to seeing this stunning series unfold. For more information, please visit the listing.

The inaugural Field Trip creative conference is set to receive some fine Twitchery flavour, thanks to image-making and retouching specialists Toby and Pete. On Friday April 20, the pair will join a select group of creatives in challenging the format of creative conferences. Toby and Pete will demystify their creative process by walking the audience through a Twitchery project from start to finish. Through live video feeds and screencasts, the audience will gain a direct insight into the tools, processes, and thoughts behind the highly successful team. To find out more about this unmissable event, please visit the Field Trip website.