From Mile End to Paris: the rise of photographer Pani Paul

Date
15 November 2016

Photographer Pani Paul rose to prominence a few years ago, when his work was published in the likes of Vice and Huck. The images which caught the attention of the zeitgeist were taken over a few years at Mile End skatepark, which the Australian photographer had visited on the day he landed in London in 2009. Three years later, Pani returned, and began to shoot the series which would take him three years and end up as the Mile End book, published by Palm Studios.

“I have been shooting at Mile End for a long time and it’s still a big source of inspiration for me,” Pani tells It’s Nice That. “I have been skating for a lot of my life but I am not interested in shooting action photos. It’s not even skateboarding that interests me really. It’s just people that happen to be associated with it.”

Thanks to the hype around brands like Supreme and Palace, skateboarding and fashion have never been more tight. After working in production companies, Pani went on to assist fashion photographers. He built his first portfolio touring around European cities, shooting tests for model agencies in Hamburg, Berlin, Milan and Paris.

Far from the boys of Mile End skatepark, now Pani’s clients include Matches Fashion, Liberty’s, Harrods, Oki-Ni, Thom Sweeney, Tank, Hero, Heroine, Asos, i-D, Uniqlo and Port magazine. As for his future work, Pani remains tight-lipped. "I have a joint photographic story with my partner and photographer Lola Paprocka coming out in a Palm Studios publication early-mid 2017. I also have an apparel collaboration with a sportswear brand whom I cannot name set to release for SS17.”

“I just really like simple static images,” Pani says of his work. “I’m a pretty firm believer in ‘less is more.’”

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About the Author

Bryony Stone

Bryony joined It's Nice That as Deputy Editor in August 2016, following roles at Mother, Secret Cinema, LAW, Rollacoaster and Wonderland. She later became Acting Editor at It's Nice That, before leaving in late 2018.

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