A few years ago on a winter trip to Melbourne, I teamed up for the second time with my friend Teresa Ortega to document the confines of my Airbnb.
I live in Perth, Western Australia. A couple of times a year I’ll escape the golden beaches for a drearier sky and make it over to Victoria. It’s always a footy game that gets me over there, but the bulk of the visit is spent in Melbourne—eating too much vegan food and taking lots of photos.
Not dissimilar to my most recent trip before this one, I got to spend some of the visit with my friend Teresa. I’d discovered her photos online and teed up a photoshoot of my girlfriend and me. We were staying in a nice Airbnb in Collingwood, which made for a delightful setting and thus began the ritual of shooting in an Airbnb while traveling.
For this occasion it was just me traveling, and I found myself in a home filled with mirrors, piles of books, and a bizarre-looking bathroom; I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to shoot. At the time Teresa was experimenting with film, which offers her work a really visceral feel.
I’m a photographer now, but I used to model more—I’d always be looking for the time and place to have my shot taken. I carry with me that same energy today but on the other side of the lens, and I’m happy to say that the Airbnb traveling tradition still remains. (I have the shoots to show for it.)
Oh, and this shoot has been vaulted for about three years. With everyone having been mostly indoors and creatively isolated for the past couple of months, this seemed like an appropriate time to revisit traveling, spending time with friends, and collaborating.
Photos by Teresa Ortega
Words and Modeling by Cole Baxter
