Aleks MarkovicAleks Markovic

LOOK UP #1‘LOOK UP’ is a 24 page independent zine that documents Tokyo’s enigmatic youth culture through the eyes of myself and writer Lena Grace-Suda. Through words and images this issue explores themes that are prevalent within generation ‘Y’ such as the identity comparisons made within reality and the cyber world; the beauty in escapism through inebriation and it also tries to uncover the difficulties of losing yourself in a vibrant, fast-paced city. It offers a fresh perspective on what constitutes a life in Tokyo.

Viewable here.

We are the faces of the city, lively colours against a grey landscape.

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LOOK UP #2Issue 2 explores the theme of ‘Discovery,’ a polar opposite to the first issue which surrounded the idea of being lost. We approached discovery from several different angles such as discovering yourself through travel and being immersed in different cultures, finding your sexuality in a culture that tends to acknowledge sex as fantasy rather than reality and enjoying the pursuit of releasing all your inhibitations through music and experimentation.

For this issue we wanted the imagery to be more diverse and showcase photographers from around the world (rather than myself photographing all the content). Because of this the idea of discovery was portrayed differently through each story and held personal perspectives dependent on the photographer’s own experiences.

Viewable here.

My lips move as i say my name to strangers who

have yet to become my friends.

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Transcended was a personal project of mine where its main purpose was to create a sense of clarity for all the experiences I had during my thirteen months in Tokyo. Rather than presenting my life in Tokyo as a novel, I wanted to mainly focus on presenting what I had learnt by living independently and how my character, feelings, and even work process as a designer had changed. This zine became a product from all the educational experiences I gained from creating the zine ‘LOOK UP’ which helped me realise my work ethic and even interests when it comes to creating a print publication. This practical experience beforehand helped me fully realise what I wanted TRANSCENDED to portray through its layout, photography, writing, and the artwork created by my close friend. By dividing this zine into four states of being, it allowed me to clearly express my individual thought processes through diverse imagery and design while still maintaining a consistent identity throughout each ‘chapter.’ I wanted this zine to hold a more minimalist approach to its design after creating two issues of ‘LOOK UP’ which both held graphic elements that provided limited negative

space within its spreads.Viewable here.

CONTACT‘Contact’ was a futuristic inspired shoot that was featured in Perth based magazine Akute. This shoot explored science-fiction references such as Fritz Lang’s ‘Metropolis’ and Mary Shelly’s ‘Frankenstein.’ My goal was to create a story that held a juxtaposition between the two characters where you could identify the heroine within her ‘human’ form and then the ‘cyborg’ creature she transitions into throughout the story.

I wanted to create a modern take on the stories that influenced this series through its styling, hair, makeup (such as colouring the model’s skin grey) and also through the post-production processes.

Photography/post-production/art direction - Aleks MarkovicHairstylist - Reece Vander VeldeMUA - Fitria AdiwibowoStyling - Melissa Lee

BEIGE‘Beige’ was a shoot

commissioned by local hairstylist Reece Vander Velde. This shoot

was to be used as an entry for Aveda’s ‘Colour Harmony’ competition where the client’s

only request was that beige was to be the most predominant

colour within the series. For this shoot I wanted it to hold a fairly

monochrome colour palette where nearly every aspect of the imagery was beige. I

also wanted these photos to hold a sense of geometry so that the areas of blank space

created angles that would help emphasize the abstract shapes

of the hairstyles.

Photography/post-production/ art direction - Aleks Markovic

Hairtylist - Reece Vander VeldeMUA - Fitria Adiwibowo

Models - Cherie Rose, Leschelle Hewett and Rhianna Isard.

‘Beige’ was a shoot commissioned by local hairstylist Reece Vander Velde. This shoot

was to be used as an entry for Aveda’s ‘Colour Harmony’ competition where the client’s

only request was that beige was to be the most predominant

colour within the series. For this shoot I wanted it to hold a fairly

monochrome colour palette where nearly every aspect of the imagery was beige. I

also wanted these photos to hold a sense of geometry so that the areas of blank space

created angles that would help emphasize the abstract shapes

of the hairstyles.

‘Dreamscapes’ was originally going to be used solely as a lookbook for Perth fashion designer Volim’s ‘Bacterium’ collection, but ended up also being featured as en editorial in Canadian based print magazine Opalus. The inspiration behind Volim’s ‘Bacterium’ collection was the chemical formations that deadly diseases (such as anthrax) make when looked at through a microscope. The juxtaposition between the beautiful imagery of the deadly viruses was what inspired the geometric and avant-garde formations within the clothing. These shapes and unusual silhouettes is what inspired my idea of creating a comparison within the photo series where each garment would be depicted from a realistic and surreal perspective, following this theme of juxtapositions. I was also inspired by James Gleeson’s ‘Psychoscapes’ which were surreal interpretations of natural landscapes and the human body which I tried to reference through using certain lighting and post-production techniques.

Photography/post-production/art direction/set design - Aleks MarkovicGarments - Volim

‘Dreamscapes’ was originally going to be used solely as a lookbook for Perth fashion designer Volim’s ‘Bacterium’ collection, but ended up also being featured as en editorial in Canadian based print magazine Opalus. The inspiration behind Volim’s ‘Bacterium’ collection was the chemical formations that deadly diseases (such as anthrax) make when looked at through a microscope. The juxtaposition between the beautiful imagery of the deadly viruses was what inspired the geometric and avant-garde formations within the clothing. These shapes and unusual silhouettes is what inspired my idea of creating a comparison within the photo series where each garment would be depicted from a realistic and surreal perspective, following this theme of juxtapositions. I was also inspired by James Gleeson’s ‘Psychoscapes’ which were surreal interpretations of natural landscapes and the human body which I tried to reference through using certain lighting and post-production techniques.

‘Dreamscapes’ was originally going to be used solely as a lookbook for Perth fashion designer Volim’s ‘Bacterium’ collection, but ended up also being featured as en editorial in Canadian based print magazine Opalus. The inspiration behind Volim’s ‘Bacterium’ collection was the chemical formations that deadly diseases (such as anthrax) make when looked at through a microscope. The juxtaposition between the beautiful imagery of the deadly viruses was what inspired the geometric and avant-garde formations within the clothing. These shapes and unusual silhouettes is what inspired my idea of creating a comparison within the photo series where each garment would be depicted from a realistic and surreal perspective, following this theme of juxtapositions. I was also inspired by James Gleeson’s ‘Psychoscapes’ which were surreal interpretations of natural landscapes and the human body which I tried to reference through using certain lighting and post-production techniques.

Photography/post-production/art direction/set design - Aleks MarkovicGarments - Volim

Photography/post-production/art direction/set design - Aleks MarkovicGarments - Volim

GENERATION‘Generation’ is a menswear shoot that I had completed for print magazine HUF. The concept of this shoot was inspired by the idea of a metamorphosis from human to nature. Sourcing clothing from Ralph Lauren, Yves Saint Laurent and Lanvin I wanted to create a juxtaposition between the clean styling of the menswear and the surreal nature of the post-production.

Photography/post-production/art direction - Aleks MarkovicModel - Joseph Kendall Langley Styling - Volim

GENERATION

NoirN‘Noir’ was a shoot used as a University assignment where the brief was to create a project that centred around one subculture. After watching several German expressionist films such as “The Cabinet of Dr.Caligari”, “Nosferatu” and noir films such as “Out of the Past”, it inspired me to create a fashion story influenced by the characters and story lines within these movies. I wanted there to be an emphasis on the character of the ‘femme fatale’ where a lot of the suspense within the storyline was created through creating harsh shadows and clear shades of black and white. To stay true to my inspiration of film noir, I made sure that throughout the series there was a clear storyline to each picture that followed the melodrama within most noir film plots.

Photography/post production/art direction - Aleks MarkovicModels - Tulay Dincel, Camille Nota and Daniel Smith