Day in the Life: of a Street-Style Photographer

Whether you’re at the helm of a fashion brand or producing parties attended by the who’s who of industry folk, a lot of job roles in the creative industry are often overly glamorised. While plenty of positions do have their perks – including classifying as ‘a cool job title’ – daily admin, logistical work and other unspoken aspects are what make up the majority of these roles. FMR’s Day in the Life series is here to give you insight into what a regular day could look like; next up, is street-style photographer, Jonathan Pryce (aka. @garconjon)

A renowned name on the fashion week circuit, Jonathan was one of the first photographers documenting street style. “I was at University in New York when I first became curious about the street, purely due to the energy and diversity in the city,” he says. “Taking portraits on the street was immediately satisfying. This was in the mid-2000s and the genre of ‘street style’ was only just emerging so I started to attend fashion weeks to see if I could capture any more interesting characters like the people I saw on blogs like Facehunter and The Sartorialist. In the end, that resulted in me covering the show season for Vogue for a decade.” Jonathan did an exhibition with Vogue Hommes in 2019 celebrating 10 years of street style, and this year he was shortlisted for the National Portrait Gallery prize and British Journal of Photography’s Portrait of Humanity; “It always feels nice to get recognition like that,” he says. But ultimately, what he loves about his job is simple; “I love connecting with people and hearing their stories. That never gets boring to me.”

Learn more about a typical day as a street-style photographer during fashion month below. 

8:30am: I’m quite selective about the shows I attend based on what types of character I know will be going. Some of the best shows are often in the morning so I’ll often get to the location early and have a coffee nearby to scope out who’s already arrived.

10am: I try to walk between locations when possible as this way I find interesting scenarios in the city outside the show location. Paris is a particularly great city for this.

11:30am: During the day I’ll usually bump into an editor or stylist who I’ve worked with before and have a catch up about the season and what brands are doing exciting work.

12pm: Often I’ll have clients looking to create new work while I’m in town. This could be a portrait of a designer for a magazine or in-house photography for a brand. I work this around capturing the streets.

1pm: Lunch with my photographer comrades. Having attended the shows for so many years now, I’ve made some great friendships. Lunch together isn’t always possible, but when it is, we arrange to meet.

3pm: If I’m near the office, I’ll offload my images and review what I’ve shot of the day so far. Usually I have an idea of what I’m looking for and this will give me direction for the second half of the day.

5pm: Light in the evening is always best and I’m known for capturing a golden light. I love to shoot Milan in the evening particularly as there’s a warmth to the light you don’t see anywhere else.

7pm: When the sun has set I’m usually wrapped for the day. I get take-out and sit with my assistant reviewing the day’s work. This takes a good few hours while eating. Deadlines are often tight during fashion week so I edit and upload everything before midnight.

11pm: If I have the time and energy, I’ll get a drink with friends – there’s always a party or event to attend during the season.