Melbourne based photographer Jessie Hall has become one of Revival Runway’s favourite people to work with. We not only love her cool, calm, warm and friendly personality and the way she works with our models, we also adore her painterly style of photography.
Originally from the UK, Jessie moved to Australia in 2007, where she first completed a degree in photography and then another in fashion marketing. Growing up surrounded by a family who never went anywhere without a camera, and having a love of art and media, photography was an obvious choice of career. While she began in commercial photography, over the years she has refined her focus towards fashion with an emphasis on dark room techniques and photographing with film.
THE INTERSECTION OF FASHION, CULTURE AND STORYTELLING
“I think my practice sits within an intersection of fashion, culture and storytelling,” explains Jessie. “My practice most often focuses on exploring style as identity as well as exploration of movement and textures, but most of all the environment which each project is set in allows me to create images that are natural and current and that feel intimate with the subject.
“I definitely think that my work is emotionally led and intuitive; I enjoy focusing on mood and emotion through the work I make. I think these details, whether they are loud or subtle, allow for me to build those connections with the people I work with as well as build on the narratives of the stories we tell that feel relatable and honest.
Jessie says that she feels like she has always been interested in photography from quite a young age: “Watching my family take photos around me and seeing the perspective of each of their images really fascinated me.
“We could all be photographing the same thing but our outcomes would be different and I just loved the different details that we all focused on.
“I got into fashion through my mum really, looking through photos of her in the 80s/90s when she was in her early 20s and 30s and seeing how she styled herself back then and how my sister and I dress ourselves now!
“I also thank my best friend Alex. She has such an eclectic and bold sense of fashion and I just love her ability to style and dress herself for any occasion, gorgeous every time! When we first met we would often strut our stuff down an imaginary runway and just laugh!”
MAKING CONNECTIONS
The connections Jessie makes with the people she shoots and works with, are what she loves most about being a photographer.
“I love the connection you make with people the most and being able to assist in bringing an idea to fruition. It’s such a rewarding feeling being able to bring that idea to life. I thrive on working with people around me.
“I think it’s really important to bounce ideas off of others but also to learn and take feedback from those people so that you are able to develop and improve on ideas.
“A lot of photographers may disagree with me on this one but I also love the process from planning, to shooting to *drumroll please* EDITING haha … I absolutely love it; being in my own little space with whatever music is in my ears and playing with colour and tone… Ugh I love it!”
However, when it comes to describing her particular creative style, Jessie says she has difficulty coming up with an answer.
“I’ve honestly never really known how to answer this question, because I think I try to leave that part for the audience. But if I were to categorise it myself, I would say that my style is quite minimal editorial? But I would then say it can flow into an emotional sort of style. It really depends on what I’m photographing and maybe even how I’m feeling that day,” Jessie says.
“My biggest inspirations are the people in my life. I have quite a creative family that are all working largely in music (whether professionally or creatively as a hobby) and well of course my mum would disagree that she isn’t creative but she is probably the most inspiring, working in specialty schools with disadvantaged children.
Anything for the shot: Jessie Hall on location
“I am lucky enough to work with my mum at a specialty school and my word, what a beautiful experience. It has taught me so much about interacting with different people that have different learning abilities and perspectives on life. Outside of my family and friends, there’s a vast amount of areas and people that I draw inspiration from.”
FUTURE PLANS
While currently based in Melbourne, Jessie would love to work internationally: “I would LOVE to work at London or Paris fashion week as a photographer, and/or a creative fashion marketer!
“I would honestly love to work with Burberry and one of their stylists, Hetty Appleton-Miles. I think she’s fantastic and of course I’m obsessed with Burberry and their creative direction.
“Finally, I would really love any opportunity to work within a print/online media space, whether that be Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, Dazed, Re-Edition … all of which have inspired me greatly over the years.”
Jessie believes in ‘continuous learning’, planning to keep developing her skills, her particular style and her portfolio.
“My current goal is to continue building on my portfolio, establishing myself as a cultural fashion photographer. I want to start working internationally which is going to become a bit of a reality this year (very exciting), as I’ll be moving to London [in 2026] for a while.
“I would really love to get involved working with publications in Europe. I want to continue developing my distinct style and perfecting it and finally continue collaborating with brands and people in meaningful ways in order to build on those long term relationships.”
To see more of Jessie’s work, go to @shotby_jessie and DM her directly for bookings.
Jessie has shot a number of events and editorials for Revival Runway, including Discover Dref, one of Melbourne’s best kept fashion secrets.
