Scenes from Late
‘Every party I do is different in some way, and you have to roll with it, understand the room, who your subjects are and gauge what they will and WON’T give you.’
Chloe Paul has a natural sense for shooting the social scene as she grew up immersed in the fashion and photography worlds: her mother is Melbourne designer Jill Clegg and party photographer Robert Rosen is a family friend. The photo medium she inhabits is both everywhere and often overlooked. But like Rosen, whose archive in the Powerhouse Collection inspired his 40-year retrospective Glitterati in 2021–22, Paul takes seriously the task of documenting something as ephemeral as an opening night event. Her party portraits in clean and contrasty black and white are distilled with energy and character.
After training in photography at RMIT University (1997–99), Paul honed her skills working in London (2006–11), and these days is as comfortable shooting with luxury brands such as Christian Louboutin and Prada, and for magazines like Harper’s BAZAAR and Vogue, as working with private clients and the rough-and-tumble of Sydney’s social scene.
In 2023 Paul was commissioned by Powerhouse to document a series of its award-winning Late events at Powerhouse Ultimo, including Absolutely Queer, Instrumental, Queerbourhood and Blak Powerhouse (the latter saw 3000 First Nations people gather on 26 January, turning what for many is a day of sorrow into one of power and positivity). Slipping from scene to scene with her Leica camera, Paul captured these diverse communities with a spontaneity that is infectious, creating snapshots for the future.
Powerhouse senior editor Michael Fitzgerald spoke with Paul about the commission, her photographic practice and what it means to make images in an ever more digital world.
