A good friend showed me Ian Zbiegniewski’s photographs before I met him in person, and I saw a youthful disposition of beauty and wonder that I wanted to experience forever. That infinite feeling of youth can only ever truly be relived through a photograph, a keepsake of nostalgia invigorated by memory itself. We all want to relive the moments in Ian Zbiegniewski’s photographs, place yourself how you see fit because you won’t want to leave…

Before meeting this audacious photographer I practiced saying his name out loud to myself a few times to try and impress him, so when I saw him I could say: "Nice to meet you Ian Zbiegniewski" like a true professional. Except, I bailed at the last minute. I still don’t know how to pronounce his Polish surname, but regardless, I was able to nickname him Ian Zed, and took this notion from his Tumblr blog:enzed.tumblr.com.

Meet IanZbiegniewski

We talked about the feminine beauty and the attractiveness and the fantasy and the fun of it all… I noticed that he is very passionate about the process of apprehending a simple and enchanting moment in time.Its all about the allure, seduction and luster of these eloquent feminine forms in context, which not only resonate a high fashion photography style, but also speak spontaneous, and personal moments. Ian declares to be quite theadventurous image capturer, even going as far as breaking into an abandoned prison, which is haunted of course.

I asked Ian to give me a snapshot of his upbringing with the camera and discovered the kinds of motives that drive this fresh photo fanatic disguised as a risky rebel youth.The smell of developer, the feel of photo paper and sound of the shutter have been ingrained into Ian from a young age, as his father owned a wedding reception photography business when he was a very young kid. Ian very much came into the art form on his own and has been an instigator and pursuer of this craft ever since. Stop motion animation at age 11, blue screening and special effects at 12 to Photoshop by age 13. These skills helped Ian pursue studies at RMIT where studying film making developed his unique style, creative eye and a firm understanding of pleasing aesthetics.

Ian has been photographing several designer shows for the last two years of L’Oreal Fashion Week in Melbourne, and this hasignited his spark and flair for photography to greater heights: ‘I am inspired anew by the curious independent boutique retailers in Melbourne and motivated by the glamorous exclusivity of these events and the people associated with them.’

Master Zed creates that youthful splendour we all strive to keep close to our hearts. Luckily for him, he has a few more youthful years in his stride yet and plenty of these moments to capture for a long time still…

Words: Emma Forster