Behind the Camera with Anniss & Barton 📷

Working with as a duo can be challenging due to conflicting artistic direction but not for creative photographers Kurt Anniss & Nathan Barton.
“We love working with the beauty and hair industries – it’s a diverse, fun and creative field. It also taps into the primal instincts and concepts of life’s beauty,” adds Anniss (Kurt).
With their talent, vision, and skill of capturing the beauty of hair and fashion, the Aussie pair bring their clients concept to life. Behind the camera with Melbourne-based campaign and advertising creative photographers.

📸 Anniss + Barton, we are curious to know about how you met. What sparked the idea and when did you decide that it was what you both wanted to do?

💥 We met when we were studying photography in Melbourne. We had similar styles, similar inspirations in Helmut Newton, Mert & Marcus, Guy Bourdin etc… and after a few beers & G&T’s, we decided we had what it takes and the courage to start a business together. That was about 10 years ago now.

“We love finding the beautiful in the everyday and creating beautiful and interesting imagery with other creatives.”

📸 You both specialize in hair, beauty and fashion photography with a signature style for hair. Can you give us some background on glamour photography and how this became your niche? 

💥 We love working with the beauty and hair industries – it’s a diverse, fun and creative field. It also taps into the primal instincts and concepts of the beauty of life. We love finding the beautiful in the everyday and creating beautiful and interesting imagery with other creatives. And that’s just what the hair industry allows. It is a little more creative than fashion in general (in Australia), yet has all the glitz and glamour of fashion.

📸 How does a photoshoot collaboration with Anniss & Barton work? 

💥 We love the production of a photoshoot, and we involve ourselves and our team all the way through. The Makeup, Styling, Hair and Nails all need to be in the creative process to help build the concepts, and ensures everyone is on the same page on shoot date. From this creative we love to design stories/characters for our models talent as well it brings a real dynamic to the shoot if the model can portray a character in the shots we’re creating.

📸 You have worked alongside some of the most amazing hair artists and partnered with many world-renowned names, companies and models. What was your most memorable experience while working with them on photoshoots? 

💥 There is probably too many to mention. Working with Kobi Bokshish was certainly one of the more memorable and exciting experiences. Kobi is the Hair Wizard; he’s engaging, enigmatic, excitable and a real joy to work with. We love him. Our shoot with Kobi, from the first frame to him burning hair on set to him roaring ”l love it” with nearly every look, that shoot was really something. It was an awesome experience. Kobi is a good friend now, and we absolutely love collaborating with him.

”We really truely love what we create and what we do. It’s as much a personal win for us as it is for the artist/ hairdresser. So much so, I (Kurt) get pretty emotional.”

📸 You also collaborate with Australia’s leading hair stylists such as, Kobi Bokshish, Uros Mikic, Joe Habbaki and Stevie English. How closely do you work with hair stylists on your shoot, and how does this relationship effect the images created? 

💥 It’s crucial that we are on the same page as the artists we work with, and that includes having a pretty close understanding of the individual. We really love to know our clients more than just a client. We become friends, we laugh, we drink & dine with them, It’s an immersive experience that creates the best work. The creative process is a true collaboration, and we really value having that strong bond to create some amazing work.

📸 What is the feeling when you know that your shooting collections have made it into the Australian Hair Fashion Awards, and your clients are finalists of Australian Hairdresser of the Year, the Victorian Hairdresser of the Year and Men’s Hairdresser of the Year? 

💥 It’s huge! We really truely love what we create and what we do. It’s as much a personal win for us as it is for the artist/ hairdresser. So much so, I (Kurt) get pretty emotional. There’s tears and hugs when there’s a win. Lots blood and sweat is put into every image. Every collection we put together, it’s our passion and that rings true in our successes.

📸 Do you prefer photographic images to be mostly shot in your studio? 

💥 It depends. For hair and beauty, studio gives you so much control.

Nathan: Certainly l prefer the studio because it allows control, maximum ability to get the perfect result without having to deal with the elements like wind and weather.

Kurt: Sometimes locations are much more fun, more chance for a ‘perfect-imperfection’ moments. More challenging, but more creative too sometimes l feel. ‘‘Give me a tropical island any day”.

“We want the viewer to see something beautiful and interesting in every image we create. We consider ourselves story tellers, so we hope that our images convey a hint of this message.”

📸 You have high production value and creativity to your work. How much time do you spend on the final images? 

💥 Our high production value is something we really pride ourselves on. We put in a lot of effort before the shoot as well as after. We often build sets, cast the best talent, create scenes and moods for our images. Production value is our thing.

Our images do get a majority of retouching done by our talented retouching partners, but every image we produce is given the ”Anniss & Barton’ love and care being finished by us. Nathan is fastidious on this part. Me (Kurt), l don’t love retouching so much. So Nathan makes it all look amazing in finishing and we both critique, tweak and decide on the final looks and images we deliver/produce.

📸 What do you hope people will take away from seeing your images? 

💥 We want the viewer to see something beautiful and interesting in every image we create. We consider ourselves story tellers, so we hope that our images convey a hint of this message.

📸 Is there something you always ask yourself before pressing the shutter button? 

💥 ”What’s for lunch”. Haha. It varies on shoots but generally Kurt will shoot and l (Nathan) will be watching the tethered computer screen. l’m a bit of a control freak, so being able to see and critique the images as they happen allows us both to create the images we’re after. l think it gives us a real competitive advantage. We’re not just a duo, but two creative eyes/minds working in sync, 99% of the time. 🙂

A lot of consideration goes into our frames generally; the who, what and why we are creating that look and then just let the moment happen.

📸 You have a large following on your social media account and your follower interactions are upbeat. What tips can you share on hairdressers wanting to connect with followers and gain exposure? 

💥 Personality and Substance – be yourself, and show your personality through what you create, what you show to others and also l think to show your humanity is very important. You can’t just be a perfect picture all the time. We like to laugh and make fun, even if it’s at ourselves.

 📸 How can you be contacted for a photoshoot session, and what is needed to be prepared before coming into the studio? 

💥 Website, Email. Phone – we’d love to hear from you.

We love being involved in the creative but if you come to us with a concept, an idea, a favourite colour, we’ll help build it from there. It also is really good to have an idea of what you want to spend –  have a budget in mind or at least a starting point.

Contact us: info@annissbarton.com | www.annissbarton.com.au

📸 Natural or studio light? 

💥 Kurt- probably natural, practical light- it has more chance for unexpected results. I love the pushing and chasing light to the edge.

Nathan- studio lighting. ”Control Freak” 🙂

📸 Describe Anniss + Barton in one word. 

💥 Passionate

📸 Most challenging photoshoot was …. 

💥 Many years ago, shooting a pretty awesome swimsuit campaign on a cruise ship, in between beautiful sunshine and pouring rain, in the middle of winter. That was fun but challenging and the shots to this day are still awesome 🙂

Twitter; @annissbarton1
Instagram; @annissbarton
Facebook; @annissbarton

Credits;
Images; Anniss & Barton
Interview; Romy