Just Us Two: Chris Colls & Alexandra Agoston

You could say that Chris Colls and Alexandra Agoston have come a long way. If only because the photographer and model both hail from Australia. Colls first picked up a camera when he was sixteen, today he does shoots for big-name clients like Moncler (most recently their winter campaign), and we won’t even bother to count the number of Vogue covers he has shot, there have been so many. Alexandra Agoston, originally from Sydney, was vacationing with her parents in Paris one day when she was discovered by a model scout. An impressive career as a fashion model followed, and the thirty-four-year-old was even considered one of Jean Paul Gaultier’s muses. Unfortunately, we caught up with the two of them in Paris and not in their gorgeous New York City loft. But read for yourself.

Mr. Colls, Ms. Agoston, where are you at the moment?

Chris Colls: We’re in Paris. Shooting for Saint Laurent.
Alexandra Agoston: Chris and I are also in the final stages of editing a book we shot together.

Can you tell us a little about yourself, Mr. Colls?

Colls: I was born on a farm in Australia, and from a very young age I’ve had a passion for fashion photography. I was always thinking about it, and I still do today.

Did you have any role models?

Colls: I was a young teenager when I discovered my love for photography. At the time, I fell in love with photographers like Richard Avedon, Edward Weston and Helmut Newton, and I was blown away by their talent.

What do you love about the medium of photography?

Colls: It probably has something to do with the fact that an image captures an exact moment in time that can never be captured again. On top of that, there’s a kind of visual language that has always excited me. Photography is constantly changing and evolving, which makes the medium so exciting.

Some people have been complaining that, thanks to the spread of social media, everyone is now a photographer. Do you see that as a blessing or a curse

Colls: I don’t see it negatively. Social media has given many talented artists the opportunity to be seen. So I think it’s a positive development.

How would you describe your style?

Colls: I guess I would call it intimate and minimal.

What drives you?

Colls: Creativity. I’m obsessed with creativity. It’s the greatest rush!
Agoston: I’m very inspired by nature and by the human form. I’m currently working on a series of abstract paintings and line drawings. Expressing myself creatively gives me a sense of purpose. And I enjoy sharing that connection with the people I love.

Of course, creativity is also a business, it is a means of making money. How do you see the commercial side of it?

Colls: Yes, that’s true, but I love the challenges. Though you shouldn’t think that this commercialism only applies to fashion or advertising photography. It’s the same thing with stories you shoot for magazines. But as I said, I have no problems with it, on the contrary.

What is important to you when it comes to your job?

Colls: I think the most important thing is to not think of it as a job but more like the privilege of being free to be creative. Work and life require a bit of ease as well, though I also believe that great things can come from difficult situations. That’s true for work but also in your private life.

How does your professional eye as a photographer and as a model shape your aesthetic perception?

Agoston: Working as a model gives you a unique sense of awareness. On the one hand, there’s your own sense of physicality in front of a camera. On the other hand, there’s the energy of the room while you are on the set. You have to work instinctively, constantly adapting to your environment, interpreting the concept of the shoot and the mood of the team you are working with. I love working with so many incredible artists, and my own personal aesthetic is very much inspired by my career in fashion. I started as a model working with Rei Kawakubu at Comme des Garçon, with John Galliano, who was at Dior at the time, and with Jean Paul Gaultier. And it is a huge privilege to work with such talented people and to see the whole design process. They helped shape the way I see creativity through the unwavering dedication to their vision.
Colls: I’m the kind of person who is always looking at everything everywhere and searching for something unknown. I think my “aesthetic perception”, if that is what you want to call it, is always evolving.

How is this sense of aesthetics, this aesthetic perception, reflected in your private life?

Agoston: I think that between the two of us, we have a very strong sense of what we see creatively, inspired by each other’s points of views and by our work. Our private life feels like a more intimate extension of that world.

How do you recognize style and class?

Agoston: Having style and class means having a strong sense of self and being an independent spirit. On the fashion side, I would say it means owning a small collection of the perfect essentials that you wear over and over.

What about your personal style? How would you describe that?

Colls: In a nutshell: simple and understated.
Agoston: It’s a mix of the places where I have lived: the streets of New York, classic French effortlessness, easygoing relaxed Aussie style. I also love wearing menswear. And once I’ve found something that feels right, I wear it forever.

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→ Read the full interview with Chris Colls & Alexandra Agoston exclusively in rampstyle #26!