On 16 August, I headed to Australia's biggest op shop sale with one goal in mind...to shop! But knowing there was going to be a runway, I threw my Sony a7III and my little Godox iM30 flash into my bag, just in case. I'm glad I did.

A runway built on second chances


The R.E.V.I.V.E runway was exactly what its name promises: fashion given a second life. As a Perth fashion photographer, I've been building my runway experience, and this one had a completely different energy to anything I'd shot before. It wasn't a polished, high-production show. It was community. It was fun. It was loud and joyful and full of people who genuinely cared about what they were celebrating.

And what they were celebrating was sustainability: the idea that fashion doesn't have to be new to be beautiful.

The pieces that stopped me


The standout moment for me was seeing the pieces by St Pat, where volunteers had taken different donated garments and patched them together to create something entirely new. There's something quietly radical about that. Taking pieces that were headed nowhere and transforming them into something someone would want to wear on a runway: that's creativity with purpose.

As a photographer, those are the pieces that are the most interesting to shoot. The texture, the patchwork, the story stitched into every seam. You could see the hands that made them.

Shooting spontaneously in a crowd



I was working with my Sony a7III, a 24mm f2.8 lens, and my compact Godox iM30 flash: a minimal, run-and-gun setup that's perfect for events like this. No tripod, no second shooter, no plan. Just instinct and available light topped up with a little flash when I needed it.

That's one of the things I love about runway photography: it rewards decisiveness. You either get the moment or you don't. There's no asking for a reshoot.

Why this kind of fashion matters



Fashion is one of the most wasteful industries in the world, and events like R.E.V.I.V.E are a reminder that it doesn't have to be. Op shop culture, upcycling, and community-led fashion are growing, and they deserve to be documented just as seriously as any high-end runway show.

As a Perth fashion photographer, I want to shoot work that means something. This was one of those days.