WHO IS ZANE:

Zane does all of his talking through his art, as it is his most natural form of expression. Whether that be through his magazine (Frnd Magazine) or modelling agency (Frnd Models), Zane aims to bring people together through their shared love of creativity, fashion and photography. We sat down with Zane, for our second instalment of 'FOR THE ARCHIVES', to grasp what makes him tick, the importance he places on social media and AI, and why functional luxury is a staple in his life.

INTERVIEW:

QUESTION 1 - Why do you think archiving / documenting is important?

To me, an archive is a collection of past documents or items that provides meaning to people with information about people, places and history. I think I find documenting and archiving so important because I’m a very sentimental person. I’m one of those people who save all their birthday cards, tickets, cool packaging, stickers, receipts and anything else because it holds so much meaning to me. In the moment it could just be something random but when I look back at it 5 years from now it might make me smile or cry or reminisce about what happened when I got that.

I find myself taking photos, especially on film and Polaroid to document my life and my friend’s lives so that I can look back and reflect one day. One of my friends texted me something last year that made me smile. She said “One day everyone is going to be 60 with grandkids showing them the photos you took of them being young in Adelaide and Australia and their kids or grandkids are going to be like omg Adelaide was so cool back in the 20’s”.

QUESTION 2 - Our mantra is "wear to death". What does that mean to you?

I think “wearing something to death” or “Wear to Death” means a lot to me. From one point it could mean wearing things so much to the point where they’re unusable anymore, and that can be meaningful to me as a person too. I can something wear myself out, not to death but to the point where I’m mentally drained, tired and burnt out. That happens a lot with my creative projects because I put a lot of work in and over perfect things. Even with clothing too, if you see my shoes or clothing I wear them out as well.

I’ve got the same pair of beat-up Adidas Samba’s that I’ve been wearing for the past year and a half and you know, everyone else around me is buying new shoes but I’m broke because I put all my money into my business and creative projects. They’re still functional though. I think until my shoes are falling apart and I can’t wear them anymore, I’m going to keep wearing them. I don’t see the point in having shoes in glass containers - I used to think it was so cool when I was 13 or 14 years old but now that’s so stupid to me like just wear your shoes. They are meant to be worn! I love wearing my clothes to death like my pants have holes in them, and my shoes are dirty (I can obviously clean myself up when I go out) but even my camera gear. My camera body has scratches on it, backpacks have holes in them etc.

People ask why is it scratched and shouldn’t you clean it, but I’m like it’s still functional at the end of the day. I just use my items a lot and the more you use something the more it’ll get worn out. I feel like “Wear to Death” means a fair bit to me though as it’s the way I live my life.

QUESTION 3 - What value do you place on creativity?

Honestly, I place so much value on creativity. Without it, I don’t know where I'd be. My brain works differently so I don’t exactly function and strive the same as others would in academic settings but creativity keeps me alive and motivated. Creating artwork, taking photos, and designing are the biggest forms of self-expression and they keep me going. I have a million ideas flooding my brain every day so I can use my creativity to spread positivity to the world and help other individuals in our industry.

QUESTION 4 - What value do you place on functional luxury?

I think I place a fair bit of value on functional luxury. It might not mean the same thing in my case as I feel it’s usually about the clothes you buy and I guess with me, the clothing I wear is typically thrift, secondhand or from local brands that my friends run. I would love to have more expensive or luxurious pieces, I just can’t afford them right now. Pretty much all the money I make goes into my businesses so FRND Magazine and FRND Models or my photography career. So it goes into buying cameras, lighting gear, film, SD cards, magazines, studios, etc. So for me, functional luxury doesn’t work the same as the fashion designer, or model or someone who buys lots of clothes and that. For them, the items they buy might double or triple in price over time, so the more they look after their pieces the more expensive they may get.

So in my case, I’m using my camera and lighting gear every single day and so I’m wearing it down and so it’s very unlikely to double in price. However, with the money I'm putting into my business, I’m hoping eventually over time that my brand and I will rise to the top and become successful - and that’s what I’m hoping and manifesting for myself. Not sure if that makes sense in any way but my functional luxury would maybe be myself and my business getting bigger and more successful. My money right now is very limited but hopefully what I’m putting in will work and then the money will eventually come.

QUESTION 5 - Do you think creatives need social media, or are there other forms of creative avenues that we can use?

I feel like creatives should use social media now but that doesn’t necessarily mean they need it. I think it is super beneficial to share your work with a wide variety of people, make networks, improve your marketing and brand image and just put yourself out there more. It does have its positives and negatives. From a negative point of view, you can get very wrapped up in it and it can be quite draining thinking about “Oh I need this many likes or I need this many followers”. I do freelance photography full-time at the moment and so in terms of getting clients, I wish I had a lot more followers and I honestly think I should have a lot more followers through the work I’m putting out. A lot of professional clients might look at my work and like it but think I need 4,000 or 5,000+ followers because they want to see your influence. I think I do have a pretty strong influence on people through my magazine and photography but from a follower point of view, they might not see that. I don’t care about likes or views too much these days.

I think it is a really good way to put yourself out there though. Instagram has lowkey been tripping lately with AI and they're stealing your work now so you have to change the settings. But as for positives, I have made a lot of networks with like-minded individuals interstate who I’ve ended up meeting and networks internationally or even with people in Adelaide.

In terms of other creative avenues you can use - I feel like in a small city like Adelaide, word of mouth is a big thing network-wise but it’s not a creative avenue. It’s always good to talk to people, networking is big in the creative industry. Telling people about your work showing them photos on your phone or printing it out. If you can afford to or find an outlet, exhibits and gallery shows are a great avenue to put yourself out there more. I love to do them whenever I can afford to and I’ll put my work, my friend’s and other like-minded individuals work in the shows.

Digital portfolios are a good option too to get jobs. I would say networking/word of mouth, events, digital portfolios, Instagram and TikTok are the best options. Social media is really good but you just need to find that balance between being too into or not out of it enough. I think I’m in the middle - but I don’t want to start making reels every week for engagement like if I get followers, I get followers. I don’t want to force it.

QUESTION 6 - Why is documentation and sharing creativity important for the community / world?

Yeah! Honestly, documentation and sharing creativity are so important to the community and the world. Without any form of creativity, the world would be so bland and that’s just my personal opinion. Something that relates to this that I think about a lot, is something an artist told me in Year 12 when we went to the art gallery for a school excursion. He mentioned how all of his friends were like “Why are you doing art”, and “Why are you doing this”? All his friends were doctors, lawyers and every academic career besides art and he would always tell them, "yes choosing to be an artist or creative is a tricky pathway but at the same time without art, music, photography and all that"; we wouldn’t know about our past and history. If you think about it through most historical events, the way most of us found out was through v

isual evidence like paintings and photos. Without people documenting through that form, we would have no clue what happened (other than by reading written documents). To really visualise what’s happened in the past you need art and photography.

In general, for me, art, music, photography, film etc is so calming. It’s my form of self-expression and it’s a form of self-expression for so many other people too. I think sharing creativity helps keep the world in order, you know?

QUESTION 7 - What do you want to ask our next guest?

As AI is becoming more popular and being used to create fake audio of musicians, or imagery of actors & celebrities + being introduced into software like Photoshop & Lightroom - do you think AI will have a positive or negative impact on the creative industry and will it take artists’ jobs?